BANCROFT 

LIBRARY 

•> 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT 


I 


An 

^ 

Ammrmt  Armg 


AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


By  ROGER  B.  BRYAN 

Captain  U.  S.  Army,  Retired 


AN  AVERAGE 
AMERICAN  ARMY  OFFICER 


CAPT.   R.  B.   BRYAN  AT  40. 


AN   AVERAGE 
MERICAN    ARMY 
OFFICER 


AN   AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


BV 

ROGER   B.   BRYAN 

CAPTAIN    u.   S.  ARMY.   RETIRED 


BUCK-MOLINA  CO..    PRINTERS 

SAN     Dl  EGO,    CAL. 

1914 


COPYRIGHT, 

BY 

ROGER    B.    BRYAN 
SAN     DIEGO      CALIFORNIA 

PUBLISHED    SEPTEMBER,     1914 


DEDICATION 


To  my  only  son,  Roger  Bates  Seay  Bryan, 
this  work  is  affectionately  dedicated;  with 
the  hope  that  it  will  help  to  keep  his  father 
in  mind  as  a  true  friend,  and  teach  him 
some  few  lessons  drawn  from  a  somewhat 
wide  experience.  I  can  hardly  expect  to  see 
him  reach  maturity  myself,  and  in  the  ab 
sence  also  of  his  mother,  lost  to  us  in  his 
early  childhood,  I  have  taken  this  means  to 
continue  some  influence  over  him,  of  the 
nature  he  would  have  received  from  father 
and  mother  had  they  both  remained  living. 

ROGER  B.  BRYAN. 


-it 


FOREWORD 

This  writing,  begun  with  the  idea  of  occupying 
usefully  some  of  my  idle  time  to  inform  my  little 
son,  has  grown  in  my  mind  somewhat  larger  in  de 
sign  ;  and  may  be  some  help  to  others,  in  making 
known  the  influences,  surroundings  and  the  im 
pressions — rather  more  than  usually  varied  by  the 
many  diverse  experiences, — that  have  come  into  my 
life. 

Spurred  by  different  ambitions,  and  aided  by  fa 
vorable  circumstances  to  follow  up  several  of  them, 
enough  variety  has  entered  into  my  life  to  give  me 
Derhaps  the  privilege  of  rating  myself  as  "an  average 
American ;"  which  I  feel  it  an  honor  to  approach,  if 
not  to  fully  represent  as  I  could  wish. 

To  other  people  than  those  of  the  United  States 
such  an  account  of  the  events  in  the  life  of  an  every 
day  American  citizen  may  prove  of  interest  from  its 
very  commonplaceness,  to  his  fellow  citizens,  so  fa 
miliar  with  such  lives.  It  is  intended  to  be  frank  and 
true. 

San  Diego,  Cal.,  5-7-1914. 


TABLE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

1.  Frontispiece.    Capt.  R.  B.  Bryan  at  40.  . .  6' 

2.  Cadet  Bryan  at  West  Point,  1882 51 

3.  2d  Lieut.  Bryan,  2d  Cav.  U.  S.  A.,  1883 ...  70 ! 

4.  Quarters,  C.  0.  Fort  Grant,  A.  T.,  1904.  . . 
Birthplace  of  Son,  Roger  R.  S.  Bryan. ...  138 

5.  Capt.  Bryan's  Home,  San  Diego,  Cal 140  j 


: 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Chapter  I.     Ancestors   17 

Ancestors  of  English  Stock,  17.  Father  and  Grand 
father  Bryan,  18.  My  Mother  and  Grandmother 
Bates,  19.  Nine  Generations  of  Americans,  20. 
Capt.  Jonathan  Fletcher,  Rev.  Patriot,  21.  Mater 
nal  Ancestry,  Continued,  22.  Paternal  Grandfath 
er's  Brothers  and  Sisters,  23.  My  Father's  Broth 
ers  and  Sisters,  24. 

Chapter  II.     Prenatal  Influence 25 

War  Clouds  Rising,  25.  My  Mothers  Strenuous  Life, 
26.  Effects  of  Maternal  Strain,  27. 

Chapter  III.     Childhood  and  Life  in  Nashville .       28 
With  Grandmother  During  War,  28.     Break  Away 
From  Studies,  29.     First  Homesickness.     Built  Boat, 
30.     Home  Influence,  31.     Southern  Sympathies,  32. 
Learning  Business  in  New  York,  33. 

Chapter  IV.     Life  in  New  York,  13-16 34 

My  Wonderful  Aunt  Susan,  34.  Joined  Presbyterian 
Mission,  35.  Boyish  Plans  to  Preach,  36.  I  suffer 
a  Burglary,  37.  From  Business  to  Studies  Again, 
38. 

Chapter  V.     Life  in  Whitestown  Seminary.  . .       39 
Enjoy  Life  as  a  Schoolboy,  39.     Value  of  Debating 
as  Training,  40.   Light   Housekeeping   Students,  41. 
My  Introduction  to  Phrenology,  42.     Doubts  Cause 
Dropping  Church  Study,  43. 

Chapter  VI.     Worcester,  Mass.,  17-18 44 

Accident   Makes     me   West     Pointer,     44.     How  I 
Won    My    Appointment,    45.     Preparation    for  En 
trance     Examination,    46.     Moulding     Influences  in 
Worcester,  47. 
Chapter  VII.     My  School  at  West  Brookfield, 

Mass.,  (1878)    48 

Teaching  a  District  School  in  Winter,  48.  New  Eng 
land  Farmers  in  1878,  49.  Effects  of  Teaching,  50. 
After  Three  Years  Training,  51. 


CONTENTS— Continued 

Page 

Chapter  VIII.  West  Point  Military  Academy.  .  52 
Breaking  in  New  Cadets,  52.  Benevolent  Despotism 
of  Discipline,  53.  Adaptation  to  Hard  Work,  54. 
Miracles  of  Accomplishment,  55.  Formalities  De 
velop  Respect,  56.  Efficiency  by  Training,  57.  La 
tent  Hostilities  Between  Classes,  58.  Aesthetic  In 
fluences  at  West  Point,  59.  Effects  of  an  Assured 
Income,  60.  Social  Opportunities  of  a  Cadet,  61. 
Social  Status  of  a  West  Pointer,  62.  Graduation 
Days,  63.  How  Irksome  Drills  Passed  Quickly,  64. 
Curious  Effect  of  Repeating  Names,  65. 

Chapter  IX.     Graduation  Leave 66 

Class  Dinner  in  New  York,  66.  Graduation  Leave, 
67.  Trip  to  Thousand  Islands,  68.  Across  the 
Prairies  to  Fort  Custer,  69.  Six  Months  After 
Graduation,  70. 

Chapter  X.     Fort  Custer,  2nd  Cavalry 71 

An  Old  Time  Frontier  Post,  71.  Vanishing  of  the 
Buffalo,  72.  In  The  "Good  Old  Days"!  73.  Overland 
March  to  Pacific  Coast,  74. 

Chapter  XI.     Forts  Walla  Walla  and  Leaven- 
worth,  1884-1889  75 

My  First  Command  of  a  Station,  75.  Scouting 
Practice  in  the  North  West,  78.  Detached  Service  at 
Fort  Spokane,  77.  A  Charming  Visitor,  78.  Be 
coming  a  Land  Holder,  79.  How  Absentee  Land- 
holding  Worked,  80.  Value  of  a  Banker's  Tip,  81. 
First  Experience  in  Society,  82.  I  Study  "Art  of 
Never  Forgetting;"  83.  Duty  at  Fort  Leavenworth 
School,  84.  Pleasant  Social  Privileges,  85.  Field 
Trip  With  General  Gibbon,  86.  Promotion.  Leave 
of  Absence,  87. 

Chapter  XII.     Around  the  World  (1890-91) .  .       88 

Preparations  for  a  Tour  of  the  World,  88.  Among 
People  Who  Amuse  Themselves,  89.  England  and 
France  in  Winter  90.  Glimpse  of  German  Military 
Life,  91.  Through  Italy  to  Egypt,  92.  From  Egypt 
to  Singapore,  93.  Hong  Kong  and  Canton,  94. 
North  China  and  Japan,  95.  More  Japan,  96.  Driv 
ing  Through  a  "Typhoon,"  97.  Through  Canada  to 
Arizona,  98. 


CONTENTS— Continued 

Page 

Chapter  XIII.     First  Duty  in  Arizona 99 

Fort  Huachuca.  I  take  Up  Desert  Land,  99.  How 
a  Fruit  Farm  Undid  Me,  100.  Land  Hunger  Makes 
Trouble,  101.  Improving  Desert  Land  Under  Diffi 
culties,  102.  Fort  Bowie  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  103. 
Congenial  Duty,  104. 

Chapter  XIV.     Recruiting    105 

After  Twenty  Years  Absence — Nashville,  105.  Easy 
Duties  and  Hard  Times,  106.  First  Met  Future 
Wife,  107. 

Chapter  XV.     Fort  Wingate,  N.  M 108 

On  the  Continental  Divide,  108.  I  Became  Post 
Exchange  Officer,  109.  Sample  Trip  "in  the  Field," 
110.  Sand  Storm  in  the  Desert,  111.  With  the  Zuni 
Indians,  112. 

Chapter  XVI.     Spanish  War 113 

Second  Cavalry  Ordered  to  Mobile,  113.  Brigade 
Commissary  at  Montauk  Point,  114. 

Chapter  XVII.     Cuba  and  Sick  Leave 115 

To  Cuba  via  Savannah,  Ga.,  115.  How  Measles 
Gave  Me  Sick  Leave,  116.  Promotion  Takes  Me  to 
Puerto  Rico,  117. 

Chapter  XVIII.     Puerto  Rico 118 

Mayaguez.  A  West  Indian  Hurricane,  118.  Quar 
termaster  at  Mayaguez,  P.  R.,  119.  Life  in  the 
Tropics,  120.  Return  to  the  States,  122. 

Chapter  XIX.     Fort  Myer  and  Washington, 

D.  C 123 

Visited  by  my  Nie.ces,  123.  My  First  Real  House 
keeping,  124.  To  Frisco  by  Troop  Train,  125. 

Chapter  XX.     Manila,  P.  1 126 

Manila  Via  Honolulu,  126.  The  Voyage  to  Manila 
by  Transport,  127  Get  a  Troop  and  Independent 
Station,  128.  Investments.  Cholera.  Bubonic 
Plague,  129.  I  Experience  a  Sunstroke,  130.  Busi 
ness  Ventures  at  Manila,  131.  U.  S.  Best  for 
Americans,  132. 


CONTENTS— Continued 

Page 
Chapter  XXI.     Marriage.    Arizona,  1904.  Sick 

Leave,  1905 133 

Return  to  U.  S.  Go  on  Leave,  133.  Married  at  Nash 
ville,  134.  Second  Tour  of  Duty  in  Arizona,  135. 
Fighting  Forest  Fires.  Range  Officer,  136.  Undue 
Heat  Wrecks  Health,  137.  On  Sick  Leave,  138. 
Retired,  "Disability  in  Line  of  Duty,"  139.  My  Cal 
ifornia  Home,  140. 

Chapter  XXII.     San  Diego,  Cal 141 

First  Life  in  My  Own  Home,  141.  Life  as  a  Re 
tired  Army  Officer,  142.  Wife  Dies  from  Surgical 
Operation,  143.  Lawsuit  Gives  Me  My  Own  Son, 
144.  Stock  Speculations,  145.  Ups  and  Downs  of 
the  Stock  Market,  146.  I  Create  Estate  for  Son, 
147.  Son's  Estate  Continued,  148.  San  Diego  Cli 
mate  Unequaled,  149. 

Chapter  XXIII.     Books  That  Have  Helped  Me .     150 

The  Constitution  of  Man,  150.  The  Constitution  of 
Man,  Continued,  151.  "Instantaneous  Art  of  Never 
.  Forgetting,"  152.  Three  Laws  of  Memory,  153.  A 
Memory  Exercise,  154.  "The  Laws  of  Psychic  Phe 
nomena,"  155.  "Creative  Science."  By  O.  S.  Fowl 
er,  156.  Various  Studies  Since  Graduation,  157. 

Chapter  XXIV.     Religious  Ideas 158 

Early  Training  Episcopal,  158.  Psychic  Research 
Strengthens  my  Faith,  159.  Hope  of  Immortality, 
160. 

Chapter  XXV.     Writings 161 

Home  Influences  on  Taste,  161.  How  and  Why  I 
Wrote  this  Book,  162.  Writing  Under  Difficulties, 
163.  American  Army  Always  Ready,  164. 

Chapter  XXVI.     American  Army  Life  as  a 

Profession   165 

The  Old  Ways  of  the  Army,  165.  The  New  Ways  in 
the  Army,  166. 

Chapter  XXVII.     Conclusion   167 

On  the  Limited  List,  167. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Ancestors. 

Although  not  privileged  to  follow  Doctor  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes's  advice  to  choose  my  ancestors  two 
hundred  years  before  I  was  born,  I  take  some  satis 
faction,  in  looking  over  the  records  of  those  who 
came  before  me  by  nature,  in  finding  them  to  be 
rather  creditable  and  perhaps  better  than  I  would 
have  selected. 

Both  parents  were  of  English  ancestry, 
with  several  generations  in  the  United  States, 
following  the  arrival  of  first  comers,  and  making  me 
the  9th  American  generation  on  my  mother's  side, 
and  the  5th  (known)  on  my  father's  side. 

Both  lines  of  my  ancestors  came  first  to  New 
England  and  seem  to  have  been  good  "average 
Americans." 

My  mother's  family  has  been  traced  back  five 
generations  in  England  preceding 'her  original  Amer 
ican  ancestor,  Clement  Bates.  He  left  London,  Eng 
land,  for  New  England,  April  6,  1635,  in  the  ship 
Elizabeth  and  resided  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  until  he 
received  a  grant  of  land  in  what  is  now  called  Cohas- 
set,  Mass.,  the  same  year,  1635. 

Various  of  my  mother's  forbears  are  credited 
with  patriotic  or  distinguished  service,  either  civil 
or  military,  as  set  forth  in  the  "Bates  and  Fletcher 
Genealogical  Register;"  but,  as  we  are  told  that  the 
principal  influences  on  character  are  mostly  limited 
to  parents  and  grandparents,  I  will  not  claim  any 
prestige  from  those  more  remote  shining  lights. 


18  Father    and   Grandfather    Bryan 

Therefore  let  us  keep  within  these  limits  after 
outlining  the  family  trees. 

My  father,  Alpha  Washtenaw  Bryan,  was  the  4th 
(known)  generation  of  American  colonists  and  was 
the  first  white  child  born  in  the  County  of  Wash 
tenaw,  Mich.,  and  was  the  seventh  (7th)  child  in  a 
family  of  twelve.  My  grandfather,  John  Bryan,  was 
sixth  child  in  a  family  of  eight,  and  though  born  in 
West  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  Feb.  1, 1794,  married  (May 
7th,  1815)  Sara  Babcock  of  Whitestown,  N.  Y.,  at 
Leicester,  N.  Y.  They  lived  in  the  state  of  New 
York  until  1823,  when  they  moved  to  Detroit,  Mich., 
with  a  family  of  five  children.  They  soon  left  De 
troit  for  what  is  now  Ypsilanti,  Mich.,  where  my 
father  was  born  two  months  later,  Feb.  27,  1824. 
These  migrations  of  my  grandfather's  family  just 
prior  to  my  father's  birth,  seem  to  have  influenced 
his  nature  strongly  in  the  direction  of  travel  and 
change,  for  it  was  always  a  noticeable  characteristic 
of  him  to  travel  in  search  of  new  experiences  some 
times  to  the  detriment  of  his  finances. 

My  grandfather  received  a  good  academic  educa 
tion  for  those  days  and  after  an  apprenticeship  in 
building,  followed  the  business  of  architect  and  build 
ing  contractor,  having  to  his  credit  many  public 
buildings,  such  as  court  houses  and  churches.  My 
father  inherited  his  talent  and  was  fond  of  and  handy 
with  tools,  and  handed  down  his  fondness  for  tools 
to  me,  which  I  have  enjoyed  all  my  life. 

My  mother,  Martha  Ann  Bates,  was  3rd  child 
in  a  family  of  fourteen  and  was  born  in  North  Brook- 
field,  Mass.,  July  30, 1823.  Her  mother  was  a  woman 
of  extraordinary  force  and  energy  of  character,  in 
domitable  of  spirit,  kind  of  heart  and  cheerful  of 
nature. 

She  gave  most  of  her  children  a  good  share  of 
these  excellent  qualities  and  reached  the  ripe  age  of 


My  Mother  and  Grandmother  Bates  19 

(91)  ninety-one  years  in  full  possession  of  her  facul 
ties.  She  (Sarah  Fletcher  Bates)  had  a  keen  sense 
of  humor,  which  often  saved  her  from  serious  dis 
cords.  My  mother  inherited  a  sunny  disposition 
from  both  her  parents,  as  my  grandfather  was  a 
very  jovial,  cheery  man ;  but  she  also  inherited  thrift 
and  good  management,  which  influenced  my  nature, 
as  I  now  look  back  on  my  life,  in  a  remarkable  de 
gree.  My  mother  had  as  good  an  education  as  girls 
often  got  in  those  days ;  at  Mt.  Holyoke,  Mass.  Fe 
male  Seminary,  which  fitted  her  for  teaching.  She 
taught  school  for  many  years  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  after  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  and 
on  marrying  the  second  time  (to  my  father)  they 
united  in  conducting  schools  of  their  own;  particu 
larly  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  I  think  their  train 
ing  in  teaching  had  a  decided  influence  on  my  tastes 
and  capacity  for  studying.  Both  parents  made  many 
friends  and  were  held  in  high  esteem  for  their  knowl 
edge  and  capacity  as  teachers  as  well  as  for  their  so 
cial  gifts. 

Altogether  I  feel  satisfied  that  I  had  ancestors 
at  least  equal  to  the  average  American  citizen,  and 
what  I  have  inherited  from  them  has  made  life  for 
me  more  successful  and  enjoyable  than  the  average ; 
and  gives  me  hope  that  my  son  will  find  life  more 
successful  still  than  my  own.  All  my  people,  father, 
mother  and  grand  parents  lived  to  a  good  old  age 
mostly  more  than  70,  and  seemed  to  have  been  good 
average  citizens,  for  none  of  them  has  committed 
any  crime  or  brought  any  disgrace  to  their  names. 

My  father  and  mother  both  received  a  good  edu 
cation  and  were  ambitious  to  improve  themselves 
still  further  through  life  and  both  were  gifted  in 
literary  ability  as  shown  in  their  many  and  charm 
ing  letters. 

These  features  in  my  ancestry  convince  me  that 


20  Nine   Generations  of   Americans 

I  owe  them  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  whatever  taste 
and  ability  I  have  enjoyed,  and  as  a  foundation  of  my 
ability  to  win  my  way  through  West  Point  Military 
Academy  where  so  many  young  men  fail. 

To  them  also  I  owe  my  uniform  good  health  till 
broken  in  middle  life  by  tropical  exposure  and  sun 
stroke.  Altogether  I  cannot  complain  of  my  people 
on  either  my  father's  or  mother's  side. 

The  following  table  gives  the  American  Ancestry 
of  my  son,  Roger  Bates  Seay  Bryan,  through  his  pa 
ternal  grandmother,  for  nine  generations : 

I.  Roger  Bates  Seay  Bryan,  born  at  Fort  Grant, 
Arizona,  4 :30  A.  M.,  Dec.  15,  1904. 

II.  He  was  the  son  of  Roger  Bates  Bryan,  who 
was  born  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Dec.  21st,  1860,  and 
his  wife,  Janie  Seay,   who   was   born  at   Nashville, 
Tenn.,  Aug.  3,  1877,  and  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 
May  31st,  1907. 

III.  Roger  Bates  Bryan  was  the  son  of  Alpha  W. 
Bryan,  born  at  Ypsilanti,    Mich.,  Feb.    27th,    1824, 
died  Mar.  20,  1901,  San  Marcos,  Tex. ;  married  May 
17th,  1851,    Detroit,   Mich.,    to   Mrs.    Martha   Ann 
(Bates)  Rogers,  who  was  born  July  30th,  1823,    at 
North  Brookfield,  Mass. ;  died  Sept.  29th,  1907,    at 
Worcester,  Mass. 

IV.  Martha  Ann  Bates  (Rogers)    (Bryan)  was 
the    daughter    of  Elijah    Bates,  who    was  born    at 
Cohasset,  Mass.,  April  25th,  1796,  and  died  at  North 
Brookfield,   Mass.,    Sept.    6th,    1863,  and  his    wife, 
Sarah  Fletcher,  who  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass.,  May 
3rd,  1799,    died    at  Worcester,    Mass.,    Sept.    28th, 
1890. 


Capt.  Jonathan  Fletcher,  Revl.  Patriot  21 

V.  Sarah  Fletcher  was  the  daughter  of  Jona 
than  Fletcher,  who  was  born  at  Acton,  Mass,  Jan. 
21st,  1757,  died  at  Boston,  Mass.,  Jan.  16th,  1807, 
and  his  wife,  Lucretia  Emerson,  who  was  born  at 
Acton,  Mass.,  Aug.  4th,  1764,  died  at  Thomaston, 
Maine,  July  7th,  1800.  They  were  married  May  20th, 
1782.  For  his  record  see  Mass.  Rev.  Rolls.  Vol.  16, 
P.  76;  Vol.  24,  P.  73;  Vol.  21,  P.  79;  Vol.  2,  P.  83; 
Vol.  28,  P.  66 ;  all  in  Mass.  Rev.  Rolls. 

Captain  Jonathan  Fletcher  is  the  ancestor  who 
assisted  in  establishing  American  Independence, 
while  acting  in  the  capacity  of  private,  fifer,  lieu 
tenant  and  captain  in  the  Massachusetts  forces  of 
the  Rev.  Army. 

VI.  Capt.  Jonathan  Fletcher  was  the  sixth  son  of 
Maj.  Daniel  Fletcher,  who  was  born  at  Con 
cord,  Mass.,  October  18th,  1718;  died  at  Ac 
ton,  Mass.,  December  15th,  1776,  and  his  wife 
Sarah  Hartwell,  of  Westfort,  Mass.,  (dates  of  birth 
and  death  unknown).  The  intention  of  marriage 
("Banns")  having  been  entered  Nov.  12th,  1741, 
(date  of  marriage  record  lost).  Major  Daniel 
Fletcher  was  elected  Major  of  the  Third  Battalion, 
Massachusetts  forces.  (See  Vol.  26,  P.  277,  Mass. 
Rev.  Rolls) .  He  was  Lieutenant  from  March  to  Sep- 
Rev.  Rolls).  He  was  Lieutenant  in  Captain  David 
Melvin's  Company  from  March  to  September, 
1747. 

On  March  13th,  1758,  he  enlisted,  to  November 
28,  1758,  in  Colonel  Ebenezer  Nichol's  regiment, 
in  the  Canada  Expedition.  (See  Vol.  96,  P.  416-418, 
Mass.  State  Archives)  ;  was  wounded  and  taken  pris 
oner.  He  was  Major  in  the  Northern  Army,  U.  S. 
forces.  (See  Brook's  Militia  Officers,  Etc.,  Vol.  28, 
P.  28  and  P.  72.  See  also  Vol.  36,  P.  277,  Roll  and 
Abstract  File  and  Staff  Officers,  Mass.,  State 
Archieves). 


22  Maternal  Ancestry  Continued 

VII.  Daniel  Fletcher  was  the   son  of   Deacon 
Joseph  Fletcher,  born  at  Concord,  Mass.,  March  26, 
1686,  died   Sept.  11,    1746,  and   his  (second)    wife 
Hepzipah  Jones.    They  were  married  July  llth  1711. 

VIII.  Joseph  Fletcher  was  the  son  of  Samuel 
Fletcher,  born  Aug.  6,  1657,  married    to  Elizabeth 
Wheeler,  April  15,  1682;  he  died  Oct.  23,  1744.    She 
died  Oct.  26,  1744. 

IX.  Samuel  Fletcher  was   the  son    of   Francis 
Fletcher,  born  at  Concord,  Mass.,  1636 ;  married  Aug. 
1,  1656  to  Elizabeth  Wheeler.     She  died  June    14, 
1704. 

X.  Francis  Fletcher  was  the  fifth  child  of  Robert 
Fletcher,  who  was  born  at  Oxford,  England,  1592. 
(See  Town  Records  Concord,  Mass.,  where   he  set 
tled  in  1630  with  wife  and  two  sons).    He  died   in 
Concord,  Mass.,  April  3,  1677,  age  85. 

Robert  Fletcher  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  prom 
inence,  and  his  ancestors  in  England  have  been 
traced  back  to  the  times  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
showing  an  unbroken  line  of  English  ancestry,  of 
which  to  be  proud,  and  which  should  stimulate  any 
living  descendant  to  strive  to  be  worthy  of  his  blood. 

Roger  Bates  Seay  Bryan's  ancestry  can  be  traced 
through  his  great  grandfather,  Elijah  Bates, 
through  an  equal  number  of  American  Bates  genera 
tions,  as  shown  in  'The  Bates-Fletcher  Genealogi 
cal  Register." 

On  his  mother's  side,  through  four  generations, 
his  ancestry  goes  back  to  Patrick  McGruder,  of  Vir 
ginia,  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  and 
signer,  it  is  said,  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Following  tables  contain  records  of  my  grand 
father's  brothers  and  sisters  "A"  and  his  children 
"B,"  of  whom  my  father  was  the  7th : 


Paternal  Grandfather's  Brothers  and  Sisters  23 

Table  "A."  Record  of  brothers  and  sisters  of  John 
Bryan,  Sr.,  from  their  family  record,  from  an  old 
book  of  John  Bryan. 

Nathan  Bryan,  born  Nov.  26,  1780. 
Augustus  Bryan,  born  Jan.  19,  1783. 
Henry  Bryan,  born  Jan.  17,  1785. 

Jacob  Brown  Bryan,  born  July  23,  1788. 
(Was  Postmaster  at  Pennfield,  near  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  and  died  June  21,  1843). 

Barna  Bryan,  born  March  19,  1790. 
*John  Bryan,  born  Feb.  1,  1794. 
Eliza  Bryan,  born  Dec.  12,  1796. 
Elliot  Bryan,  born  Sept.  13,  1800. 


*John  Bryan  had  twelve  children,  as  shown  in  the 
following  table  "B:" 


24 


My  Father's  Brothers  and   Sisters 


.   3    SH      5? 


r 

.U 


O        O 


-^^ 


At 
Y.,  May 


Marri 

er,  N. 
15 


itu  ^ 


ViC,  OOT^^^^ 


Where  Born 
West  Stockbridge,  M 
Feb,  1,  1794 
Whitestown,  N.  Y. 
June  29,  1794 


bfl" 

t 


,     g    *'   1 

I  1 


" 


Names  /of  Bryan 
Family 
John  Bryan 
Sara  Babcock 


fi'E 
2* 


fi    | 


CHAPTER  II. 

Pre-natal  Influences 

However  much  influence  heredity  has  in  form 
ing  character  and  constitution,  we  are  more  and 
more  coming  to  realize  the  importance  of  pre-natal 
influences,  especially  if  of  unusual  character;  and 
in  this  respect  I  feel  more  certain  every  day  that 
they  had  a  very  marked  effect  on  myself  as  shown 
by  the  differences  I  find  between  myself  and  my 
brothers  and  sister. 

I  was  born  Dec.  21st,  1860,  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 
in  our  family  home,  which  was  the  first  settled 
abode  of  the  family  and  where  ownership  gave  it  a 
sweetness  and  joy  to  which  previous  residences  had 
been  strangers.  While  my  father  was  fond  of  travel 
and  change,  from  causes  shown  in  the  chapter  on 
"ancestors,"  my  mother  was  quite  the  contrary  and 
made  a  home  a  large  part  of  her  comfort  and  joy  in 
life,  and  was  especially  devoted  to  this  Nashville 
home ;  as  she  had  selected  and  designed  it,  and  con 
tributed  largely  toward  paying  for  it. 

The  year  preceding  my  birth  found  her 
with  the  home  not  yet  fully  paid  for;  with 
my  father  and  older  brother  during  the  lat 
ter  half  of  the  year  1860,  absent  from  home 
on  a  long  trip  through  the  South;  with  war 
clouds  gathering  and  ominous  political  condi 
tions  dividing  the  people  of  the  State  and 
threatening  every  form  of  business,  including  teach 
ing,  her  main  recourse  in  emergency. 

Thus  she  was  doubly  taxed  in  strength  and  spirit 
to  keep  our  home  and  a  fragment  of  our  family  with 


26  My  Mother's  Strenuous  Life 

her,  but  she  rose  equal  to  the  occasion,  met  and  mas 
tered  each  difficulty  as  it  arose,  and  though  suffer 
ing  much  from  anxiety  and  worry,  brought  us 
through  triumphantly,  saved  the  home  and  was  able 
to  welcome  to  it,  absent  son  and  father  after  the  war 
was  over  and  they  could  get  back  from  the  far  South. 
It  is  easy  now  for  me  to  see  how  this  strenuous  life 
of  my  mother,  with  its  many  problems,  met  and  solv 
ed,  as  well  as  the  anxiety  she  felt  for  her  absent  lov 
ed  ones,  and  the  overshadowing  danger  of  loosing 
her  home,  stimulated  to  greater  activity,  traits  in 
her  nature  hitherto  more  or  less  dormant ;  and  I  am 
able  to  see  these  traits  deeply  marked  in  my  charac 
ter,  due  to  their  powerful  influence  on  the  plastic  na 
ture  of  her,  as  yet,  unborn  child. 

Persistence,  -  patience,  self-reliance  and  re 
sourcefulness,  with  a  tendency  to  look  on 
the  serious  side  of  things,  are  some  of  the 
points  of  difference  from  my  brothers,  which 
I  attribute  almost  entirely  to  the  conditions  sur 
rounding  my  mother  during  the  period  prior  to  my 
birth.  She  was  a  rare  and  devoted  mother  and  her 
loss  was  the  deepest  blow  of  my  life ;  for  the  longer 
I  lived  the  more  I  loved  and  honored  her,  and  grew 
to  understand  her  many-sided  nature,  and  what  I 
owed  her.  She  had  to  make  success  in  a  community 
where,  owing  to  the  war  sentiment,  she  was  almost 
an  alien;  she  had  to  meet  financial  obligations  on 
the  home  when  all  money  matters  were  in  a  chaotic 
state,  and  real  money  was  disappearing  and  difficult 
to  get;  she  had  to  organize  a  school  when  nobody 
wanted  to  let  their  children  go  far  from  home;  she 
had  to  see  the  Confederate  forces  depart  without 
showing  the  elation  she  felt  at  the  incoming  of  the 
Federal  troops;  she  had  to  convince  the  Union  of 
ficers  of  her  loyalty  and  right  to  protection  for  her 
family  and  property,  and  through  all  there  was  a 


Effects  of  Maternal  Strain  27 

daily  need  of  providing  food  for  hungry  young 
mouths,  as  well  as  decent  clothing  for  growing  bod 
ies.  While  in  nowise  neglecting  the  nurture  of  their 
souls  and  training  of  their  minds  and  habits  in  the 
traits  of  courtesy  and  good  breeding;  yet  she  had 
resources  in  her  nature  to  meet  all  these  demands 
and  more.  The  main  drawback  among  pre-natal  in 
fluences  was  the  overshadowing  seriousness  and  anx 
iety  over  business  and  family  matters.  The  ab 
sence  of  relaxation  and  relief  from  worry  seems  to 
have  deprived  my  mother  of  a  good  deal  of  her  nat 
ural  spontaneity  and  bouyancy,  during  those  try 
ing  times,  and  this  deprived  me  of  part  of  these  nor 
mal  family  traits. 

I  remember  as  a  small  boy,  wondering  how  all  the 
people  made  a  living  and  feeling  depressed  at  the 
idea  that  some  form  of  payment  had  to  be  made  for 
everything  enjoyed  or  needed,  and  this  death-head 
at  the  feast  of  my  childhood  continued  to  mar  its 
happiness  until  I  was  about  16,  when  a  new  light, 
through  the  philosophy  of  phrenology,  dissipated 
the  gloom,  freed  my  spirits  from  the  long  suffered 
incubus,  and  restored  a  normal  balance  to  the  feel 
ings  and  character. 

So  much  do  I  feel  indebted  to  this  clear  exposition 
of  man's  nature  and  his  relation  to  his  fellowmen 
and  nature,  the  great  Mother  of  us  all,  that  I  some 
times  doubt  whether  I  would  have  found  life  endura 
ble  had  I  been  compelled  to  continue  without  its 
cheering  help.  For  thirty  years  the  philosophy  of 
phrenology  has  been  a  faithful  friend  and  most  help 
ful  mentor  in  guiding  the  affairs  of  my  life.  During 
all  this  time  and  on  its  application  to  every  side  of 
life  I  have  never  failed  in  finding  it  a  true  guide, 
while  the  serious  blunders  that  I  have  committed  oc 
curred  where  I  went  contrary  to  its  ideas  and  rules 
of  conduct. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Childhood  and  Life  in  Nashville 

So  I  canxe  into  the  world  when  the  storms  of  sec 
tional  strife  and  angry  passions  of  North  and  South 
were  raging  preparatory  to  the  final  outbreak  in 
war.  The  situation  did  not  permit  my  staying  with 
my  mother  beyond  the  time  of  being  weaned,  when  I 
was  taken  to  the  tranquil  haven  of  my  grandfather 
Bryan's  home  in  Constantine,  Mich.,  where  my  dear 
grandmother,  amply  experienced  through  bringing 
up  twelve  children  of  her  own,  surrounded  me  with 
the  peaceful  influences  of  a  happy  home.  There  I 
lived  and  thrived  till  the  war  was  over,  when  I  was 
taken  back  to  Nashville  in  my  sixth  year,  to  find  my 
father  and  brother  returned  also  and  our  family  cir 
cle  completed  again. 

Nashville  had  now  been  so  long  under  union 
forces  that  the  family  no  longer  suffered  for  their 
views,  and  life  for  me  followed  the  ordinary  course 
of  childhood  through  elementary  and  gram'mar 
school  into  the  first  year  in  high  school.  At  this  stage 
and  in  that  enervating  climate  the  plans  of  my  par 
ents  to  push  my  education  as  far  as  possible,  met  in 
my  feelings  with  strong  opposition.  Long  years  of 
study,  as  they  seemed  to  me,  trailed  behind  me  and 
longer  years  loomed  up  as  menaces  to  my  liberty 
ahead  of  me.  One  of  my  brothers  had  gone  north  to 
work  with  an  uncle  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  other 
had  spent  his  vacation  with  a  railroad  surveying 
party,  and  was  enthusiastic  over  the  charms  of  bus 
iness  and  money  making  and  freedom  from  school. 


Break  Away  from  Studies  29 

This  aroused  my  own  temporary  repugnance  to 
study  to  such  a  degree  that  I  finally  won  consent  to 
go  to  the  country  and  visit  with  a  boy  friend  on  a 
plantation.  As  we  had  a  country  place  on  the  Cum 
berland  Plateau  in  East  Tennessee  among  the  chest 
nuts  and  pines  near  Sewanee,  Tenn.,  where  we  were 
making  a  fruit  farm,  I  had  learned  to  handle  an  ax 
and  farming  tools  during  our  vacation  and  there 
fore  was  a  welcome  guest  at  my  boy  friend's  planta 
tion,  some  thirteen  miles  out  of  Nashville,  where  I 
promised  my  parents  I  would  lend  a  hand  to  lighten 
the  work  falling  to  the  lot  of  my  boy  friend.  Here 
occurred  to  me  for  the  first  and  last  time  that 
extraordinary  phenomena  of  human  nature,  home 
sickness.  On  driving  out  to  the  plantation  with 
members  of  the  family  I  had  felt  happy  and  light- 
hearted,  and  these  feelings  continued  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  next  day;  but  after  midday  din 
ner  I  began  to  feel  heavy  and  depressed  and  with  a 
vague  hunger  to  see  my  home  and  be  with  my  moth 
er.  This  grew  more  painful  and  I  ate  but  little  sup 
per.  I  went  to  bed  with  an  aching  heart  and  laid 
awake  most  of  the  night  thinking  how  I  could  get 
home  with  a  good  face  and  making  excuses  for  going 
home. 

As  the  mansion  stood  near  the  turnpike  it  oc 
curred  to  me  that  I  could  beg  a  ride  home  on  some 
passing  wagon.  I  got  up  before  my  boy  friend  and 
without  saying  a  word  to  any  body,  I  slipped  out  of 
the  house  and  took  a  place  by  the  roadside,  about 
half  a  mile  towards  town,  and  waited  till  a  covered 
wagon  came  along,  whose  solitary  driver  cheerfully 
gave  me  a  lift.  As  soon  as  I  was  sure  of  getting 
home  my  depression  disappeared  like  magic,  and  I  be 
came  as  gay  as  a  lark.  I  then  began  to  invent  rea 
sons  for  my  coming  home,  and  felt  ashamed  of  hav- 


30  First   Homesickness — Built   Boat 


ing  given  way  to  my  feelings  so  quickly  and  ever 
found  heart  to  go  back  the  next  day. 

On  reaching  home  I  immediately  proclaimed  thai 
my  return  was  for  some  fishing  tackle,  etc.,  but  fell, 
unfeigned  joy  at  having  a  good  hug  and  kisses  from 
my  mother,  which  put  to  flight  the  remnant  of  home 
sickness  that  still  clung  to  me  on  my  return. 

My  older  brothers  were  good  swimmers  and  the 
Cumberland  river,  muddy  and  discolored  with  clay 
in  suspension,  was  our  swimming  and  boating  place. 
A  three-wheeled  tricycle,  in  the  patenting  of  which 
my  father  was  interested,  gave  me  the  idea  of  ap 
plying  combined  hand  and  foot  power  to  a  stern- 
wheel  skiff,  and  although  only  eleven  or 
twelve  years  old,  I  succeeded  in  making  en 
tirely  without  help,  a  practicable  boat  with 
a  stern  wheel  and  well  balanced  combination 
of  hand  and  foot  power  that  easily  took  it  up  the 
swiftest  rapids  in  our  part  of  the  river,  and  was  an 
illustration  of  inherited  facility  with  tools  and  appli 
cation  of  mechanical  ideas.  My  father  placed  a  well 
stocked  work  shop  at  the  disposal  of  us  three  boys 
and  thus  gave  us  "manual  training"  at  home  long 
before  it  was  introduced  into  the  schools.  This 
gives  a  glimpse  into  the  training  provided  for  us  in 
many  similar  ways  at  home. 

My  sister  and  both  brothers  received  training  in 
music  but  for  some  reason  which  I  do  not  recall  I  was 
deprived  of  it,  to  my  temporary  joy,  but  life-long  re 
gret. 

My  visit  to  the  plantation  marked  the  end  of  my 
school  work  at  home.  The  visit  lasted  several  months, 
created  a  liking  for  country  life  with  its  easily  un 
derstood  means  of  making  a  living  and  turned  my 
thoughts  at  a  later  period  to  land  speculations,  which 
were  the  foundation  of  my  modest  but  comfortable 
independence. 


Home  Influences  31 


Among  other  accomplishments  acquired  on  the 
arm  was  the    art  of  chewing  tobacco,  which  was 
done  by  every  male  on  the  place. 

The  refined  tastes  of  my  parents  were  so  shocked 
at  this  vile  habit  of  mine  that  they  pretended  they 
vould  abandon  me  to  the  job  of  a  field  hand  on  the 
plantation  instead  of  taking  me  on  a  visit  to  both 
my    grandmothers,    in    Michigan    and    Massachu 
setts,  respectively,  as  they  had  intended,  unless  I  de 
cided  to  give  up  tobacco.    So  strong  was  the  hold  it 
ad  on  me  that  I  actually  debated  the  matter  in  my 
mind  a  whole  day  and  night  before  yielding  and 
hen  only  "till   I  was  21."    My  father   took  me   to 
Michigan,  where  I  saw  my  grandmother  Bryan  for 
he  last  time.    From  there  my  uncle,  Theodore   C. 
Bates,  my  mother's  brother,  took  me  east  to  rejoin 
my  mother  and  visit  among  her  people.    This  prac- 
ically  ended  my  childhood,  about  my  13th  year  for, 
hough  I  returned  with  my  mother  to  our  home  in 
Nashville  after  a  visit  to  my  sister  in  her  home  in 
Atlanta,  Ga.,  I  did  not  return  to  school.    A  year  or 
:wo  later  I  was  sent  to  New  York  City  to  live  with 
an  aunt  and  learn  something  of  business.    My  child 
hood  in  Nashville  was  well  suited  to  bring  out  all  the 
atent  tastes  and  possibilities  of  a  child  bearing  on 
very  day  life.    We  were  in  our  own  home   in  the 
suburbs  where  we  had  plenty  of  elbow  room  and  op 
portunity  for  keeping  pets  and  animals  dear  to  chil 
dren,  horses,  cows,  poultry,  garden,  fruits,  flowers, 
running  brook,    loving  care,    abundant    affection, 
wise  direction  in  drawing  out  our  powers  by  encour 
agement,  a  training  in  industry  by  example  as  well 
as  precept  and  in  general  we  reaped  the  benefit  of  a 
oving  and  intelligent  guidance  on  the  part  of  trained 
sarents,  which  could  not  fail  of  good  results.     To 
this  comoination  of  influences  extending  over  the 
nost  impressionable  period  of  my  life,  I  feel  now  that 


32  Southern  Sympathies 


I  owe  the  balancing  up  of  the   different   traits   c 
character  that  brought  me  more  nearly  to  norms 
than  I  would  have  been  under  most  any  other  ch 
cumstances.    I  cannot  pay  too  high  a  tribute  to  th 
wise  influence  of  my  mother  at  this  time,  the  effec 
of  which  showed  itself  through  all  my  subsequen 
life,  though  not  fully  recognized  by  me  till  after  sh«j 
was  gone  and  it  was  too  late  to  show  her  all  my  ap; 
preciation  of  her  devotion  and  love. 

Having  passed  the  years  of  my  childhood  fron 
six  to  fourteen  entirely  in  Nashville  and  vicinity  ". 
received  impressions  tinctured  with  Southern  bias 
and  prejudices  so  deep  on  my  plastic  nature  as  tc 
make  me  practically  a  boy  of  the  Southland. 

Point  of  view  towards  manual  labor,  toward  the 
colored  population  and  towards  the  government  was 
closely  like  that  of  Southern  people  in  general. 

My  speech  had  the  local  accent  and  drawl,  my 
spirits  shared  in  the  enervating  effects  of  the  warm 
climate,  and  I  was  fast  drifting  toward  the  lazy  and 
useless  plan  of  living  on  some  other  persons  efforts, 
when  a  visit  to  us  of  my  uncle  Theodore,  from  Mas 
sachusetts,  resulted  in  shaking  up  and  breaking  up 
our  family.  He  saw  the  drift  towards  uselessness 
and  shiftlessness,  due  to  climate  and  malaria  and 
succeeded  in  getting  us  three  boys  into  the  North. 

Within  a  year  or  two  my  brother  Lyman  was  in 
Pennsylvania  with  my  Uncle  Saville  Bates,  Brother 
Charley  with  Uncle  Theodore  in  Worcester,  Mass., 
and  I  in  New  York  with  my  Aunt  Susan  (Bates)  Jen 
nings. 

From  this  time  on  I  was  destined  to  "paddle  my 
own  canoe,"  and  work  out  my  own  salvation,  though 
with  the  help  of  very  dear  relatives  and  kind  friends. 
From  a  child  I  became  almost  a  man  in  a  very  short 
time  under  the  influences  of  a  great  city  and  respon- 


Learning  Business  in  New  York 


sibilities  incident  to  the  business  and  new  family 
life,  into  which  I  was  drawn. 

My  Aunt  Susan  was  an  excellent  discip 
linarian  and  business  woman  and  gave  me 
the  opportunity  to  learn,  not  only  the  de 
tails  of  her  son's  business,  (printing  and  sta 
tionery)  which  was  conducted  on  a  large  scale 
but  also  to  familiarize  myself  with  metropolitan  com 
merce  in  general.  I  was  trusted  with  making  "col 
lections,"  which  to  me  seemed  huge  sums  of  money. 
This  contact  with  the  life  and  trade  of  a  great  city 
rapidly  cured  me  of  the  provincialism  that  I  brought 
with  me,  and  gave  me  a  certain  poise  and  aplomb 
which  stood  me  in  good  stead  the  rest  of  my  life. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Life  in  New  York. 

So  here  we  find  me  at  the  age  of  14  or  15  trans 
planted  from  the  South  to  the  North,  like  a  tender 
plant  from  the  nursery  to  life  in  the  open  to  depend 
on  itself.  The  family,  which  lived  at  431  W.  46th  St. 
in  a  quiet  family  section  of  the  city  in  a  home  of 
their  own,  consisted  of  my  Aunt  Susan,  a  widow, 
then  well  along  in  middle  age  and  widowed  for  sev 
eral  years;  a  grown  son,  Arthur  B.  Jennings,  a  re 
cent  graduate  of  Columbia  College,  bachelor,  and  as 
pirant  for  wealth  and  fame  as  an  architect ;  a  daugh 
ter  of  about  my  own  age,  Sarah  Jennings,  just  en 
tering  normal  school  with  a  view  to  becoming  a 
teacher,  and  myself. 

My  Aunt  Susan  was  a  wonderful  woman.  Hav 
ing  received  a  good  education  in  the  female  accom 
plishments  at  a  young  ladies  seminary  by  the  com 
bined  efforts  of  her  parents  and  herself;  she  taught 
both  in  schools  and  private  practice,  painting,  music, 
etc.,  for  several  years,  till  she  met  and  married  Mr. 
Joel  Jennings,  also  a  teacher,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
who  had  more  literary  taste  than  business  ability,  so 
that  when  the  family  income  did  not  keep  up  with 
the  family  increase,  his  lack  of  business  ability  com 
pelled  my  aunt  to  take  the  lead.  This  she 
did  by  a  complete  change  of  plan.  She  took 
up  the  then  new  occupation  for  women,  can 
vassing.  She  sold  important  and  popular  books 
by  the  thousands,  and  astonished  herself  and 
friends  by  the  display  of  unsuspected  shrewd- 


Joined  Presbyterian  Mission  35 

ness  in  earning  and  investing  money.  When 
competition  reduced  her  earnings  and  her  oldest  boy, 
William  N.,  finished  his  schooling  and  had  learned 
enough  of  the  printing  and  stationery  business^  she 
financed  him  for  a  modest  start  under  his  name,  but 
retaining  control  herself  and  directing  many  de 
tails  with  great  judgment,  while  keeping  the  books 
of  the  "infantry  industry."  She  bought  her  home 
and  kept  her  family  together  till  her  boys  were  mar 
ried  ;William  to  go  to  live  in  New  Jersey  and  Emerson 
with  his  wife's  people  in  the  city,  when  she  found 
too  much  room  in  her  house  and  sub-let  the  upper 
floors.  My  cousin  Arthur  and  his  sister,  Sarah, 
though  living  in  the  home,  were  little  seen  by  me, 
for  I  left  for  the  store  before  they  got  up,  and  reach 
ed  the  home  at  night,  owing  to  the  long  business 
hours  (7  A.  M.  to  6  P.  M.)  then  prevalent,  too  late  to 
dine  with  them ;  but  they  were  good,  intelligent  and 
religious  and  had  good  effect  on  my  nature,  though 
not  very  demonstrative  in  their  affection. 

My  earnings  were  small  while  the  work  and  re 
sponsibility  seemed  great  and  my  ambition  seemed 
to  lose  force  as  time  went  on  and  regrets  for  my  lost 
student  days  began  to  grow. 

Talks  with  Cousin  Arthur,  the  college  graduate, 
fanned  my  discontent  and  might  have  resulted  in  the 
breakup  from  discontent  had  it  not  been  brought 
about  in  another  unf orseen  way.  The  great  revival 
ists,  Moody  and  Sankey,  were  holding  monster  mJeet- 
ings  in  the  old  Madison  Square  Garden,  to  which  my 
cousins  persuaded  me  to  go. 

Deeply  influenced  by  the  zeal,  ferver  and  power 
of  the  evangelist,  I  felt  drawn  in  the  hunger  of  my 
heart  for  something  better  to  join  the  church  forces 
and  became  a  member  of  a  Presbyterian  mission 
chapel,  located  in  our  neighborhood.  My  Sunday 
school  teacher  had  long  and  frequent  talks  with  me 


36  Boyish  Plans  to  Preach 

and  drew  my  attention  to  the  usefulness  and  beauty 
of  the  ministry  and  urged  me  to  think  over  it  and  as 
suring  me  that  if  my  inclination  should  run  in  that 
direction  some  means  would  surely  be  found  to  help 
me  fit  myself  for  it.  I  was  then  in  my  16th  year, 
maturing  rapidly,  very  impressionable,  almost  mor 
bidly  conscientious  and  eager  to  show  my  new  faith 
by  works. 

After  brooding  over  the  matter  a  long 
time,  I  decided  to  fit  myself  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  much  to  the  joy  of  my  teacher 
and  the  pastor. 

In  taking  this  step  I  was  actuated  mostly  by  a 
sense  of  obligation  to  do  some  work  for  the  cause 
which  I  had  so  recently  taken  up. 

While  a  Sunday  school  scholar  all  my  previous 
life,  I  had  never  gone  into  the  doctrines  of  any 
church,  and  in  taking  up  with  the  Presbyterian  sect, 
it  was  simply  the  result  of  environment.  Had  I 
studied  the  theology  of  this  denomination  before 
committing  myself  to  work  in  that  field,  I  would 
have  kept  out  of  it  altogether,  and  saved  myself  and 
my  Presbyterian  friends  much  sorrow  and  distress. 
In  the  meanwhile,  waiting  for  the  means  to  be  found 
for  carrying  out  my  decision,  I  took  advantage  as 
far  as  I  could  of  the  broadening  influences  of  the  city 
by  visiting  museums,  art  galleries,  public  libraries, 
celebrated  buildings,  etc.  I  had  the  good  fortune 
also  to  be  able  to  visit  the  Centennial  Exposition 
(1876)  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  in  company  with  my 
older  brother,  Lyman.  It  was  the  first  of  our  great 
expositions  and  made  a  deep  impression  on  me  by 
its  vastness,  beauty  and  educational  character. 

While  in  New  York  I  had  been  greatly  interested 
in  maritime  affairs  which  in  that  port,  showed  every 
possible  phase  from  a  skiff  to  a  battle  ship.  Having 
read  many  sea  stories  it  gave  greater  zest  to  my  ex- 


I  Suffer  a  Burglary  37 

ploration  of  this  fascinating  field  and  aroused  in  my 
heart  a  desire  to  get  into  the  United  States  Navy,  if 
I  could  get  or  win  an  appointment  to  Annapolis  Na 
val  Academy,  and  thus  enter  it  as  an  officer.  At  that 
time  appointments  were  generally  given  to  the  favor 
ites  of  politicians  or  to  boys  whose  fathers  had  help 
ed  to  elect  the  congressman  holding  the  appointing 
power,  so  I  could  see  little  hope  in  that  direction.  I 
learned,  however,  that  'engineering"  appointments 
to  the  naval  academy  were  open  to  competition  at 
large,  and  I  held  in  reserve  this  door  for  my  ambition 
if  I  failed  to  get  a  straight  appointment. 

The  congressman  from  my  district  in  the  city, 
Hon.  Fernando  Wood,  gave  vague  promises  for  the 
next  vacancy,  but  my  political  insignificance  left  me 
without  any  real  prospect  of  being  favored,  yet  I 
kept  the  idea  and  inclination  warm  in  my  mind  and 
heart. 

On  returning  from  the  Philadelphia  exposition  I 
was  informed  that  a  fund  provided  for  the  education 
of  Presbyterian  students  for  the  ministry  could  be 
placed  at  my  disposal  as  soon  as  I  wished,  and  being 
still  under  the  influence  of  my  religious  fervor, 
aroused  by  Moody  and  Sankey,  and  while  ignorant 
of  all  that  it  involved  in  the  way  of  dogma  and  theo 
logical  belief,  I  decided  to  begin  my  studies  right 
away.  This  involved  giving  up  business  life  and 
taking  up  again  my  long  interrupted  student  life, 
which  I  did  very  cheerfully,  and  under  exceptionally 
pleasant  auspices.  Rev.  Hoadley,  pastor  of  the  con 
gregation  of  which  I  was  a  member,  recommended 
my  attending  a  co-educational  seminary  conducted 
by  our  denomination  in  the  small  village  of 
Whitest  own,  near  Utica,  N.  Y.. 

My  stay  in  New  York  closed  with  rather  an  ex 
citing  incident,  which  was  no  less  than  suffering  a 
burglary,  while  just  before  leaving  my  aunt's  house 


38  From  Business  to  Studies  Again 

and  occupying  a  bedroom  on  the  ground  floor  anc 
being  the  only  one  on  that  floor.  The  burglar  got' 
open  the  basement  window,  entered  and  explored! 
my  floor  and  made  up  a  bundle  of  valuables,  includ 
ing  a  new  suit  of  my  clothing  before  waking  me  up,' 
which  he  did  by  flashing  a  bull's-eye  lantern  in  my 
face.  For  a  moment  I  was  paralyzed  with  youthful 
fright,  but  kept  my  eyes  closed  and  feigned  sleep 
till  he  got  out  of  the  house.  This  gave  me  an  op 
portunity  to  run  up  stairs  and  arouse  my  cousin 
Arthur,  while  the  burglar  was  climbing  the  back 
fence  with  his  plunder,  in  part  at  least,  for  we  cap 
tured  quite  a  bundle  of  clothing  stolen  from  our 
neighbors,  but  unhappily  for  me,  not  containing  my 
new  suit.  This  episode- made  such  an  impression  on 
me  that  to  this  day  I  dislike  to  sleep  without  locked 
bedroom  door,  or  some  provision  to  prevent  being 
surprised  while  asleep. 

Finally,  all  details  having  been  completed,  I  left 
mv  Aunt  Susan's  house  after  a  warm  demonstra 
tion  of  affection  and  every  good  wish  for  my  success 
and  contentment  in  my  new  field.  I  took  train  one 
morning  to  find  myself  that  same  afternoon  in  an 
atmosphere  and  surroundings  so  different  as  to  make 
me  feel  as  if  I  were  on  a  new  planet.  A  little  vil 
lage  holding,  as  almost  its  only  reason  for  being,  a 
quiet  bee  hive  of  male  and  female  students,  with  the 
name,  "Whitestown  Seminary,"  where  I  was  de 
stined  to  pass  two  of  the  happiest  years  of  my  life, 
with  literary  influences,  congenial  companionship, 
and  a  freedom  from  control  over  my  actions,  which 
I  had  never  enjoyed  before.  The  seminary  was  a 
survival  from  the  days  when  public  schools  did  not 
fill  the  need  for  higher  education  and  prepare  for 
college  as  well  as  they  do  now. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Life  at  Whitestown  Seminary 

Welcomed  by  the  president,  Mr.  Gardner,  a  pro 
fessor  and  "gentleman  of  the  old  school,"  I  was 
promptly  made  to  feel  at  home  and  welcome,  as  a  de 
sirable  addition  to  the  school  since  I  represented  the 
denomination  and  became  in  a  measure  the  protege 
of  the  faculty  as  a  body. 

In  due  time  I  was  settled  in  a  couple  of  small 
rooms ;  with  a  room-mate  who  was  supposed  to  be 
preparing  himself  for  service  in  the  Episcopal  min 
istry.  His  name  was  Swift  and  more  fitly  represent 
ed  his  character  than  did  his  profession.  His  amia 
ble  aunt  was  meeting  his  expenses  at  the  school  and 
kept  it  up  till  she  found  he  had  no  real  inclination 
for  anything  but  a  life  of  pleasure.  We  got  along 
together  well  enough,  but  were  not  very  congenial 
and  parted  when  he  left,  without  much  regret  on 
either  side,  for  he  was  too  frivolous  and  I  was  too 
serious  for  us  to  have  any  real  interests  in  common, 
to  unite  us. 

In  line  with  my  destined  work,  I  was  entered  in 
the  "Classical"  course,  to  be  fitted  for  college,  and 
began  Latin  and  Greek,  etc.,  was  invited  to  join  the 
young  men's  literary  societies,  of  which  there  were 
two,  and  in  the  usual  manner  of  such  schools  was 
soon  a  full-fledged  student  and  enjoyed  getting  back 
into  my  studies,  so  long  laid  aside  for  business.  I 
brought  to  this  new  activity  a  much  better  trained 
mind  and  matured  body  than  when  I  stopped  my 
school  work  and  the  zest  with  which  I  took  up  my 


40  Value  of  Debating  as  Training 


life  and  studies  there  gave  me  good  results  and  rapid 
progress  in  my  studies.  Tranquillity  reigned  in  my 
heart  for  I  seemed  to  see  my  way  clear  and  invit 
ing  far  ahead  of  me. 

I  rapidly  formed  acquaintance  with  the  more  am 
bitious  and  studious  members  of  our  little  communi 
ty,  explored  the  surrounding  country,  joined  the 
more  serious  natured  literary  society,  and  tried  in 
every  way  to  live  up  to  my  own  aspirations  and  the 
ambitions  of  my  friends  for  me. 

Of  all  the  training  I  received  I  regard  as  the  most 
valuable,  what  came  to  me  in  the  literary  society, 
where  weekly  debates  were  held  and  practice  in  ex 
temporaneous  speaking  given,  as  well  as  composi 
tion  and  formal  orations  made  a  part  of  the  exer 
cises.  The  habit  of  thinking  on  my  feet  and  express 
ing  my  ideas  in  appropriate  language  became  easier 
and  more  agreeable  with  each  effort.  I  well  remem 
ber  the  first  debate  in  which  I  was  assigned  to  one 
of  the  sides,  and  after  the  leaders  had  opened  the 
subject  and  the  more  competent  debaters  on  my  side 
had  seemingly  exhausted  the  subject,  was  called  on 
to  add  my  mite  to  the  argument.  I  rose  from  my  seat 
and  stood  for  a  moment  with  trembling  knees  while 
-I  gathered  my  wits,  and  expressed  in  words  some 
conclusions  in  opposition  to  those  of  the  other  side. 

Fortunately,  my  points,  though  few,  were  well 
taken  and  carried  some  weight  in  the  decision  of  the 
question  at  issue  by  the  judges  for  the  evening,  and 
earned  me  a  very  much  appreciated  compliment  from 
the  leader  of  our  side.  Ever  after  that  I  had  less  ti 
midity  in  speaking  and  always  prepared  myself  care 
fully  for  the  contests  by  m;aking  thorough  study  on 
both  sides  of  the  subject  for  debate.  The  leaders 
knowing  they  could  count  on  me  formed  a  habit  of 
assigning  me  to  "sum  up"  the  arguments  and  close 
the  debate  which  I  was  very  much  pleased  to  do,  as 


Light    Housekeeping    Students  41 

it  gave  me  an  extra  ten  minutes  in  which  to  speak. 
Here  I  found  the  training  given  me  by  my  parents 
as  well  as  their  example  in  the  use  of  grammatical 
and  choice  language  to  be  a  great  help  to  me,  and  by 
the  time  I  left  the  school,  I  had  won  some  little  repu 
tation  there  as  a  debater  and  logical,  forceful  speak 
er  for  my  age.  The  seminary  was  one  of  several  in 
the  Mohawk  Valley  whose  graduates  met  at  "Ham 
ilton  College,"  celebrated  locality  for  its  oratory  and 
the  opportunities  given  there  to  students  of  modest 
means.  All  the  seminaries  were  co-educational,  and 
ours  at  least,  permitted  what  in  these  days  might 
be  called  "light-housekeeping"  on  the  part  of  the 
students,  to  save  expense,  so  that  we  had  a  portion 
of  our  students  coming  Monday  mornings  with  huge 
hampers  of  provisions  and  leaving  Friday  evenings 
for  home  to  replenish  them.  Some  of  our  best  stu 
dents  and  most  zealous  in  taking  advantage  of  their 
opportunities  were  from  this  class,  and  stood  high 
in  general  esteem  on  their  personal  merits  and  char 
acter. 

Representing  small  farmer's  families  with  compar 
atively  few  and  modest  tastes  to  be  gratified,  my 
schoolmates  set  a  pace  for  study  and  devotion  to  self- 
improvement  that  helped  me  be  contented  in  doing 
likewise. 

Coming  to  this  co-educational  institution  from 
the  public  schools  of  Nashville,  the  mixed  classes  of 
young  men  and  young  women  seemed  natural  and  I 
believe  were  thoroughly  wholesome  in  their  effect.  I 
recall  nothing  to  lead  me  to  condemn  educating  the 
sexes  together,  if  it  is  possible  to  provide  training 
appropriate  to  each,  while  giving  that  also  which  can 
be  taken  in  common.  Co-education  seems  to  work 
well  in  the  two  great  universities  of  California ;  the 
one  at  Berkley  housing  students  numbering  several 
thousand  in  private  homes  in  the  town,  and  the  oth- 


42  My  Introduction  to  Phrenology 

er,  Leland  Stanford  University,  at  Palo  Alto  provid 
ing  community  houses  or  club  buildings  for  the  stu 
dents,  in  which  living  expenses  may  be  found  in 
keeping  with  the  student's  means. 

Leaving  out  the  character  of  the  studies,  I  saw 
the  extreme  on  the  other  side,  in  my  life  as  cadet  at 
West  Point  Military  Academy,  where  the  feminine 
was  so  conspicuous  by  its  absence. 

In  preparing  one  day  for  a  specially  hard  topic 
for  debate,  I  found  great  help  in  a  book,  "The  Con 
stitution  of  Man,"  by  George  Combe,  a  Scotch  law 
yer,  giving  the  philosophical  bearing  of  the  subject 
or  science  perhaps  of  Phrenology  on  man  in  his  re 
lation  to  this  world  as  an  intellectual,  moral,  social 
and  physical  being,  and  to  his  fellow  man.  It 
showed  me  man's  place  in  nature,  the  rule  every 
where  of  nature's  laws,  their  invariable  character 
and  unfailing  reward  when  obeyed,  or  punishment 
when  violated,  whether  by  saint  or  sinner  in  the  re 
ligious  sense. 

From  these  fixed  laws  I  went  at  the  study  of  the 
Presbyterian  theology  and  creed  which  I  was  sup 
posed  to  be  preparing  to  expound,  with  a  new  light 
and  a  feeling  of  standing  on  solid  ground  when  na 
ture's  laws  were  known,  which  led  mfe  to  expect  to 
find  somewhat  similar  impressions  about  my  creed. 

The  more  I  studied  the  creed  and  theology  the 
less  certain  any  part  of  it  appeared. 

Doubts  which  I  had  never  dreamed  of  grew  more 
and  more  intense  in  my  heart,  and  resulted  in  such 
discord  in  my  soul  and  so  shaking  my  faith  in  my 
power  to  teach  these  doctrines  that  finally,  in  the 
second  year  at  Whitestown,  I  resolutely  faced  the 
matter  and  decided  that  I  could  not  follow  out  the 
course  I  was  preparing  for,  and  on  opening  my 
heart  to  those  interested  in  me  they  advised  further 
investigation. 


Doubts  Cause  Dropping  Church  43 

I  tried  to  be  faithful  and  unbiased,  but  got  no  relief 
from  doubts  on  again  reviewing  study  and  thought 
on  the  subjects  that  first  gave  me  trouble,  and  par 
ticularly  the  denomination's  stand  on  the  Trinity  and 
predestination.  I  read  every  church  authority  in 
reach  and  many  others  without  being  able  to  ac 
cept  my  church's  point  of  view. 

There  was  nothing  to  do  but  abandon  my  studies 
under  the  auspices  of  the  church,  bid  farewell  to  my 
pleasant  dreams  of  content  and  usefulness  and  start 
anew  in  some  other  field. 

I  left  the  seminary  with  deep  regrets  not  only  for 
having  to  give  up  my  line  of  study  and  hope  of  ser 
vice  to  mankind,  but  also  at  having  to  leave  the  con 
genial  atmosphere  of  the  life  of  study,  so  different 
'rom  business  and  the  every  day  world.  But  the 
:alse  position  in  which  I  found  myself  was  unbeara 
ble,  and  I  went  on  a  visit  to  my  relatives  in  Massa 
chusetts,  while  coming  to  some  conclusion  for  the  fu 
ture. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Worcester,  Mass.  17-18. 

My  uncle  tided  me  over,  by  giving  me  employ 
ment  in  his  factory  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  where  the 
knowledge  of  printing  I  had  acquired  in  New  York 
City,  made  my  services  of  some  value,  and  give  me 
time  to  readjust  my  plans.  My  first  inclination  was 
for  training  for  the  navy  but  as  there  was  no  vacancy 
from  our  congressional  district  for  several  years, 
during  which  I  would  pass  the  age  limit,  I  abandoned 
the  thought  of  becoming  a  naval  officer  proper,  and 
turned  toward  competing  for  a  naval  engineer  cadet- 
ship. 

After  about  a  year's  stay  in  Worcester,  a  vacancy 
at  West  Point  Military  Academy  for  the  congres 
sional  district  occurred,  and  as  my  uncle  had  been 
very  influential  in  electing  the  congressman,  Hon. 
W.  W.  Rice,  he  thought  he  could  get  me  the  appoint 
ment  if  I  wanted  it. 

It  was  a  tempting  outlook  in  several  ways,  but 
was  entirely  foreign  to  my  previous  ambitions,  and 
it  was  with  quite  a  wrench  to  my  feelings  that  I 
gave  up  the  navy.  It  was  even  a  relief  to  be  invited 
to  take  my  chances  as  a  competitor  for  the  appoint 
ment,  rather  than  insist  on  it  as  payment  of  a  po 
litical  debt  of  Mr.  Rice  to  my  uncle.  I  had  learned 
how  to  study  at  Whitestown,  and  as  the  time  was 
short  I  went  at  my  preparations  carefully  and  thor 
oughly,  knowing  I  could  utilize  my  coaching  or  more 
exactly  "cramming,"  in  the  naval  engineer  competi 
tion,  should  I  fail  of  winning  the  West  Point  cadet- 
ship,  for  which  many  competitors  were  enrolled. 


How  I  Won  My  Appointment  45 

I  will  go  into  detail  a  little,  for  the  benefit  of 
some,  perhaps  inexperienced  students,  who  might 
find  my  way  of  winning  against  twenty-eight  other 
competitors  helpful  to  them  in  a  similar  case. 

I  gave  up  everything  else  to  study.  Rising  at  six 
I  devoted  two  hours  to  closest  application  in  a  quiet 
room,  then  ten  minutes  rest  and  complete  relaxa 
tion,  followed  by  a  simple  light  breakfast,  after 
which  came  an  easy,  slow  walk,  with  deep  breathing, 
in  the  open  air  for  half  an  hour.  Returning,  two 
hours  and  a  half  of  close  study  followed  and  now 
half  hour  of  rest  before  dinner  in  the  middle  of  the 
day.  This  was  my  main  meal,  after  which  I  laid 
down  and  sometimes  got  a  short  nap. 

The  review  in  the  afternoon  of  the  previous  worx 
that  day,  seemed  to  put  it  completely  at  my  disposal 
with  almost  perfect  remembrance.  A  light  supper 
with  mild  recreation  and  to  bed  at  nine  o'clock  com 
pleted  the  day,  and  generally  gave  me  a  good  night's 
sleep. 

As  to  the  method  of  study  I  found  quickest  and 
best  results,  then  and  since,  from,  what  is  now  known 
as  "Interrogative  Analysis."  You  read  over  the  top 
ic  to  find  the  principal  points,  then  make  questions 
to  yourself,  the  answers  to  which  cover  every  salient 
idea,  and  if  there  is  any  obscurity,  make  ques 
tions  bearing  on  the  subject  from  different  points 
of  view,  till  no  puzzling  question,  such  as  your  exam 
iners  are  liable  to  give,  remains  unanswered  in  your 
own  mind.  This  searching  the  text  for  points  on 
which  to  hang  questions  is  a  wonderful  sharpener 
of  the  wits,  and  seems  to  make  fast  in  the  mind 
what  it  has  picked  out  for  itself  and  answered  by  a 
digest  of  the  ideas  found. 

An  amusing  but  almost  serious  oversight  was  in 
neglecting  to  make  the  map  of  Massachusetts  as  fa 
miliar  to  me  as  to  my  competitors,  who  had  spent 


46  Preparation  for  Entrance  Examination 


their  lives  in  the  state,  and  drawn  it  many  times 
from,  memory.    My  poorest  mark  was  for  an  imper-^ 
feet  map,  which  I  should  have  forseen  would  be  call-.^ 
ed  for.     However,  my  preparation  must  have  been 
pretty  thorough  in  other  respects,  for  my  average 
was  98  per  cent,  as  against  96  per  cent  for  the  sec 
ond  best  mark.    I  remember  I  got  permission  to  use 
pen  and  ink  which  gave  my  papers  a  neater  appear 
ance  than  the  pencils  used  by  the  others. 

The  examination  was  in  the  early  summer  of 
1878  and  the  examiners  went  off  on  their  vacations, 
leaving  the  result  unknown  to  the  competitors  for 
many  weeks.  I  had  about  given  up  expecting  to 
win,  when  one  day  on  the  train  with  my  uncle  to  pass 
the  week  at  his  home  in  Northf  ield,  he  gave  me  the 
evening  paper  just  out,  saying,  "Roger,  this 
may  interest  you."  It  was  an  announcement  of  the 
results,  giving  the  names  of  the  contestants  and 
their  percentages,  naming  me  as  winner  for  the 
much  coveted  appointment  to  West  Point,  and  nam 
ing  the  second  as  "alternate"  in  case  I  failed  to  pass 
the  entrance  examination  which  is  made  very  search 
ing,  and  is  failed  on  by  many  of  the  appointees, 
though  not  often  by  those  winning  through  compe 
tition  at  home. 

Needless  to  say  this  news  was  a  joyful  surprise 
to  myself  and  friends,  and  made  my  way  clear  for 
the  year  intervening  before  I  should  present  myself 
for  admittance  to  the  government  military  training 
school.  I  planned  to  study  the  entire  year. 

I  attended  the  Worcester  Academy  part  of  the 
time  where  conditions  ruled  somewhat  similar  to 
those  at  Whitestown  Seminary ;  and  took  up  special 
studies  bearing  on  the  examination  and  course  at 
West  Point.  To  fix  in  my  mind  what  I  had  studied 
as  well  as  to  train  myself  in  handling  and  correct 
ing  others,  I  sought  a  position  as  school  teacher,  for 


Moulding  Influences  in  Worcester  47 

3art  of  the  year,  and  found  a  district  school  in  the 
country,  some  miles  from  the  little  town  of  West 
Brookfield,  Mass.,  which  gave  me  the  desired  ex 
perience  in  abundance. 

My  life  in  Worcester  was  spent  under  rather 
pleasant  circumstances,  partly  in  the  home  of  my 
married  sister,  partly  in  bachelor  rooms  and  the  re 
mainder  in  the  school  spoken  of  above.  I  was 
lappy  in  my  freedom  from  religious  worries,  joyous 
n  my  anticipations  of  success  in  my  new  career  and 
heered  by  the  presence  in  the  city  of  relatives  very 
dear  to  me.  All  these  influences  combined  to  remove 
he  discontent  and  depression  with  which  I  left 
iVhitestown  seminary.  I  feel  myself  to  have  been 
especially  fortunate  in  having  the  influence  of  the 
ime  spent  in  Worcester,  as  a  finish  to  my  youth  and 
i  preparation  for  the  sterner  life  and  duties  to  fol- 
ow. 

Worcester  is  a  very  prosperous  manufacturing 
center  and  has  a  great  many  advantages  to  offer, 
schools,  libraries,  museums  and  distinguished  fami 
lies  and  citizens  who  have  brought  her  great  re 
nown  in  many  ways. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

My  School  at  West  Brookfield,  Mass. 

I  was  seventeen  when  I  started  teaching  a  distrid 
school  for  the  winter  term  in  the  bleak  New  England 
back  country.  Much  to  my  surprise  I  found  a  large 
proportion  of  the  families  whose  children  came  to 
school,  were  foreigners,  who  were  drawn  into  that 
region  by  the  cheap  farm  lands  practically  abandon 
ed  by  the  old  New  England  families. 

There  were  few  pupils  who  had  been  regular  at 
tendants  and  the  school  had  suffered  from  many 
changes  of  teachers. 

The  climate  was  so  severe,  the  conveniences  so 
few,  the  necessity  for  ' 'boarding  round"  so  trying 
and  the  pay  so  small,  that  the  teachers,  good  and 
bad,  shunned  the  school  after  one  trial.  With  my 
own  future  so  bright  and  teaching  simply  for  prac 
tice,  I  endured  the  hardships  and  trials  as  stoically 
as  I  could,  and  made  the  most  of  my  opportunity  for 
training  and  study;  while  at  the  same  time  getting 
a  glimpse  into  old  New  England  farm  life  that  I  have 
never  regretted,  and  would  not  have  foregone  had  I 
knowingly  had  to  choose. 

The  region  was  cut  up  into  small  farms,  where  gen 
eral  farming  had  to  be  helped  out  with  special  pro 
ducts,  while  the  distance  from  the  railroad  made  it 
expensive  to  ship  to  market  and  gave  little  more 
than  a  bare  living  for  most  of  the  American  families. 
Yet  among  these  families  were  some  of  the  most  lov 
able  and  intelligent  people  I  had  ever  met.  The  long 
winter  evenings  before  the  wood  fires  were  passed 


New   England   Farmers  in   1878  4» 

in  discussions  and  readings  aloud  that  were  quite 
pleasant  and  profitable.  Such  delicious  apples, 
brought  from  the  cellar  in  panfulls,  just  ripe  enough 
and  leading  to  sound  sleep,  I  shall  never  forget ! 

They  were  sturdy  people,  though  too  poor  to 
move  to  rich  lands  of  the  west,  or  perhaps  top  much 
attached  to  their  homes  to  make  the  sacrifice  and 
I  felt  abundantly  rewarded  for  the  hardships  I  had 
had  to  put  up  with  by  the  lessons  in  living  and  ex 
amples  given  me  of  courage  and  thrift  by  these  folks, 
so  obscure,  yet  so  valuable  as  citizens. 

The  un-American  element  copied  the  customs  and 
emulated  the  patriotism  of  the  old  families  and 
seemed  happy  to  have  land  and  homes  of  their  own, 
however  poor  they  might  be. 

As  I  remember,  there  were  about  forty-five  pu- 
pupils  in  average  attendance,  some  as  old  as  myself, 
but  we  got  along  very  well  together,  with  few  oc 
casions  for  harsh  words  or  severe  discipline.  I  be 
came  quite  attached  to  some  of  them,  and  when  they 
learned  I  was  going  to  West  Point  Military  Acad 
emy  the  following  summer,  their  interest  in  me  re 
doubled,  and  I  was  given  a  more  intimate  place  in 
their  families.  The  studies  pursued  were  mostly 
elementary  but  I  encouraged  some  of  the  more  ad 
vanced  pupils  to  take  up  with  me  some  of  the  sub 
jects  that  would  help  in  my  future  course  at  West 
Point.  Keeping  thus  but  a  day  or  two  ahead  of  my 
special  students,  I  was  pleased  to  find  I  brought 
them  forward  as  rapidly  as  I  progressed,  and  think 
now  the  difficulties  were  made  easier  to  them  by 
their  very  newness  to  me,  which  gave  me  their  point 
of  view  better  than  if  I  had  been  more  advanced. 

Oliver  Goldsmith  teaching  music  while  himself  a 
beginner,  reached  a  similar  conclusion. 

Having  a  sound  constitution,  though  somewhat 
slight  in  physique,  the  daily  walks,  often  through 


50  Effects  of  Teaching 


deep  snow,  to  and  from  school,  were  a  noticeable 
benefit  to  me,  as  well  as  enjoyment,  in  struggling* 
against  the  elements  with  the  frosty  nipping  air, 
sending  the  blood  tingling  to  all  parts  of  the  body, 
and  also  gave  me  a  keen  appetite  for  the  plain  but 
abundant  food  supplied  at  my  various  "boarding- 
round"  places. 

I  came  out  of  the  "wilderness,"  so  to  speak,  a  bet 
ter,  wiser,  sturdier  and  more  sympathetic  young 
man  than  when  I  went  in,  and  count  it  another  of 
my  valuable  experiences,  though  represented  in 
cash  by  only  sixty  dollars,  for  the  three  months  "sal 
ary." 

Bidding  a  cheerful  farewell  to  my  new  friends  of 
the  winter,  at  our  closing  "exercises,"  which  went  off 
better  than  I  expected,  I  returned  to  Worcester  to 
continue  my  studies  for  the  entrance  examination 
now  looming  large  before  me,  and  the  successful 
passing  of  which  was  the  opening  of  the  door  to  my 
career.  My  "predecessor,"  whose  graduation  would 
make  a  vacancy  for  me  in  the  corps  of  cadets,  had  an 
estimable  father,  who  looked  me  up,  made  me  his 
protege,  and  helped  me  amazingly  by  his  advice 
founded  on  his  son's  experience. 

The  spring  term  at  Worcester  Academy  passed 
quickly,  pleasantly  and  profitably  and  the  last  part 
of  May  found  me  with  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 
"candidates"  reporting  at  West  Point,  for  examina 
tion  for  admission  to  the  foremost  military  school 
under  government  control  in  the  world.  It  was  my 
debut  in  life. 


CADET  BRYAN,  U.  S.  M.  A.,   1882 


ro 

st 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

West  Point,  U.  S.  Military  Academy. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  academy,  before  com 
petitive  examinations  were  common,  and  when  ca 
dets  were  appointed  to  repay  political  debts,  or  to 
get  a  wild  son  in  a  safe  berth,  the  cadets  themselves 
were  often  spoiled  children,  headstrong,  unruly  and 
know-it-all  kind  on  entering.  This  led  to  the  cus 
tom  of  putting  the  candidates  through  a  course  of 
subduing  education  in  manners  and  deportment  more 
modest. 

The  spoiled  darling  of  wealth  and  position  was 
taught  by  the  older  cadets  that  he  was  to  go  through 
strictly  on  his  personal  merits  and  abilities. 

The  first  lessons  seemed  rough  and  uncalled  for, 
but  given  as  by  authority  they  carried  weight  and 
obedience,  very  often  without  authority.  To  say 
"Sir"  to  every  cadet  speaking  to  him ;  to  speak  only 
when  spoken  to;  to  knock  at  the  office  door  and 
promptly  remove  his  hat,  forgotten  in  the  excite 
ment;  to  jump  up  and  stand  "attention"  when  any 
superior  came  in ;  to  think  modestly  of  his  own  mer 
its  ;  to  esteem  cadet  and  military  life,  as  far  superior 
to  anything  in  civil  life;  to  obey  first  and  think  af 
terward,  and  to  consider  himself  of  no  importance 
till  he  should  have  "won  his  spurs"  by  performance 
were  some  few  of  the  myriad  of  things  learned  by 
him  in  the  first  days  of  his  stay,  and  particularly 
while  as  yet  a  candidate  and  not  entitled  to  join  the 
family  of  his  brother  cadets  already  entered. 

True  metal  is  improved   by   refining,    and   this 


Benevolent  Despotism  of  Discipline  53 

rough  but  wholesome  welcome  to  the  new  life  of 
struggle  and  preparation  influenced  the  weak 
and  wavering  one  to  pause  and  consider,  while 
the  ones  who  had  natural  bent  for  a  military 
life,  enjoyed  the  horseplay  to  which  they  were  sub 
jected,  in  so  refined  and  yet  stern  a  manner,  kept  a 
serious  face  only  to  enjoy  a  hearty  laugh  over  their 
embarrassments  on  getting  back  to  the  security  of 
their  own  rooms,  beyond  the  chastening  of  the  ca 
dets  in  charge  of  their  discipline. 

The  dubious  name  of  "beast"  was  applied  to  can 
didates  not  yet  examined  and  accepted,  and  '  'beast 
barracks"  was  that  part  of  the  cadet  buildings  se.t 
aside  for  their  use,  while  candidates. 

To  one  unfamiliar  with  discipline  in  military 
schools,  the  number  of  petty  things  forbidden  or 
prescribed  is  inconceivable. 

A  booklet  of  them  of  quite  respectable  dimensions 
is  furnished  the  cadet  but  not  to  the  "candidate" 
who  is  coached  in  his  duties  orally  by  cadets  in 
charge. 

The  new-comer  feels  the  iron  hand  of  a  benevo- 
;ent  despotism  on  him,  but  at  first  the  benevolence 
seems  very  thin,  and  the  despotism  very  real  and 
rksome. 

In  the  long  run,  however,  he  sees  the  necessi 
ty  for  prompt  obedience  and  acquires  the  habit, 
whereupon  it  became  easy  and  the  benevolence  be 
gins  to  appear  more  real.  Several  weeks  were  given 
candidates  to  grow  used  to  their  surroundings,  and 
study  before  taking  the  entrance  examination,  and 
these  were  strenuous  days. 

Even  those  best  prepared  lost  some  of  their  con- 

idence,  while  those  who  lacked  thorough  preparation 

suffered  tortures  of  anxiety  if  eager  to  enter,  or  joy 

at  the  prospect  of  failure  if  they  were  cured  by  this 

time  of  their  military  aspirations.    These  examina- 


54  Adaptation  to  Hard  Work 


; 


tions     themselves,     though     in     common     Englis.; 
branches,  were  very  thorough    and    searching,    s 
when  we  were  lined  up  to  cull  out  the  sheep  who  ha<; 
passed,  from  the  goats  who  were  rejected,  a  pain.f 
ful  feeling  of  suspense  oppressed  me,  till  my  nani('e] 
among  the  winners,  changed  it  to  a  joyous  thrill  oli  j 
pride  and  relief  and  anticipation. 

A  heavy  percentage  in  my  class  failed  to  enter,  { \ 
and  in  the  four  years  which  followed  enough  more 
were  rejected  or  "found  deficient"  to  leave  less  than 
fifty  per  cent  to  graduate  and  get  commissions  in 
the  army.  The  first  six  months  is  the  hardest  to 
get  through,  though  by  no  means  the  hardest  work, 
nor  the  heaviest  study,  but  trying  in  many  ways  on 
the  courage,  patience,  application  and  even  health; 
so  continuous  is  the  daily  grind  of  study,  drill,  dis 
cipline  and  uncertainty. 

The  entire  being  seems  to  undergo  some  change, 
physical,  mental  and  moral  by  which  it  adapts  itself 
to  the  new  requirements,  so  that  having  safely  pass 
ed  the  first  semi-annual  examination,  grown  used  to 
the  uniform,  familiarized  to  the  never-relaxed  iron 
hand  of  discipline  and  settled  into  harness,  we  never 
after  suffered  again  the  pangs  of  that  period.  Again 
a  large  number  were  "found"  and  went  home  to 
civil  life  or  to  foreign  ports  to  try  something  else, 
but  this  was  the  heaviest  slaughter  of  the  four 
years,  and  culled  out  most  of  the  incapables,  and  even 
some  budding  geniuses ;  who  revolted  at  the  discip 
line  or  the  never-ending  work,  or  the  isolation,  or 
the  simplicity,  or  the  outlook,  or  any  other  influence 
too  strong  for  a  student  to  resist. 

Some  cam'e  from  homes  of  luxury  and  lives  of  in 
dulgence,  and  these,  though  often  smart  enough, 
made  the  poorest  students  while  others  who  had  been 
altogether  or  partly  through  college,  succeeded  best, 


Miracles  of  Accomplishment  55 


eaving  the  large  majority  to  represent  the  average 
American  boy,  by  average  standing  in  his  classes. 

Like  digging  the  Panama  Canal,  the  hardest 
vork  was  preparatory,  and  the  first  six  months  giv- 
m  over  to  training  in  the  use  of  our  own  language, 
elementary  mathematics,  etc.,  with  the  training  in 
jlear  thinking  and  exact  expression  was  very  impor- 
;ant  to  the  progress  through  the  more  serious  stud- 
es  of  the  following  years. 

The  course,  as  everybody  knows,  is  mathematical, 
scientific  (chemistry,  geology,  mineralogy,  astron- 
>my,  electrical  engineering,  drawing,  natural  phi- 
osophy,  wave  motions,  etc.,)  languages  (French  and 
Spanish)  technical  (art  and  science  of  war,  ordnance 
md  gunnery,  military  engineering,  tactics,  etc.,)  law, 
(constitutional  and  international)  and  supplying  and 
taring  for  troops,  etc. 

Altogether,  a  formidable  array  of  studies,  only 
;o  be  mastered  by  long  lessons,  unfailing  applica- 
:ion,  steadily  maintained  health  and  a  good  share 
[)f  brains.  Even  a  week  or  two  in  the  hospital,  if 
t  prevented  study,  might  drop  a  cadet  so  far  behind 
that  he  would  have  to  fall  back  into  the  next  class. 
Every  care  is  taken  of  the  health  of  the  cadets  by 
open  air  exercises,  drills  on  foot  and  horseback, 
wholesome  and  abundant  food,  long  and  compulsory 
hours  in  bed  (10  a.  m.  to  6  p.  m.)  well  ventilated 
quarters  and  these  with  the  sound  constitution  with 
which  they  must  enter,  produce  the  miracles,  of  ac 
complishment.  Long  lessons  are  learned  in  what 
would  seem  incredibly  short  time  to  the  novice  in 
the  art  of  study. 

No  form  of  recreation  or  diversion  was  allowed  to 
interfere  with  our  duties  or  studies,  and  the  isola 
tion  from  any  city  influences  gave  a  quiet  studious 
atmosphere  that  was  very  helpful  in  studies,  but  try 
ing  on  one's  craving  for  some  form  of  social  life. 


56  Formalities  Develop  Respect 

The  first  two  years  are  passed  without  a  break 
in  the  form  of  vacations,  and  to  the  lonesome  or 
homesick  cadet,  would  seem  unendurable  were  there 
more  time  to  dwell  on  the  matter. 

The  four  classes  go  by  the  slang  names  of  "Plebe," 
'  Yearling,"  Second  and  First.  The  "Plebe"  is  treated 
very  formally,  as  if  a  new  acquaintance  whose  merits 

were  doubted.     Always  addressed  as  "Mr. " 

he  was  required  to  always  reply  with  the  addition  of 
"Sir/  "No  Sir,"  "Yes  Sir,"  etc.,  and  in  many  even 
ridiculous  ways,  made  to  feel  that  he  was  on  proba 
tion.  This  influenced  the  new  cadets  so  persistently 
and  strongly,  as  to  make  them  finally  more  respect 
ful  towards  and  appreciative  of  the  merits  and  im 
portance  of  the  older  cadets  than  of  any  other  class 
of  persons  with  whom  they  were  thrown. 

From  it  arose  a  mild  form  of  hero  worship,  as 
often  occurs  in  schools  where  life  is  cut  off  from  the 
world,  while  at  the  same  time  the  formal  respect 
shown  for  the  rights,  privileges  and  even  sensibili 
ties  of  the  new  comers,  bred  in  them  a  comforting 
self-respect  and  feeling  of  importance,  since  they 
could  look  ahead  to  the  time  when  they  in  turn 
should  be  in  authority.  The  first  year  no  "chevrons" 
fall  to  the  fourth  class.  All  were  "cadet  privates," 
and  the  cadet  corporals,  sergeants,  lieutenants  and 
captains  were  appointed  from  the  three  upper  class 
es.  So  coveteous  of  these  honors  did  some  plebes  be 
come  that  they  would  overdo  themselves  in  "brac 
ing  up"  to  attract  attention  to  their  military  fitness, 
and  even  get  laughed  at,  though  in  general  great  re 
spect  was  shown  to  evidence  of  ambition,  whether 
to  shine  in.  drill,  discipline  or  studies.  Everything 
got  recognition  in  marks  or  demerits,  and  all  com 
bined  to  give  a  cadet  his  final  "class  standing"  on 
graduation. 

His  final    standing    decided  his    choice  of    the 


Efficiency  by  Training  57 

branch  of  the  service  he  could  choose,  whether  en 
gineers,  artillery,  cavalry  or  infantry.  High-standing 
gave  choice  of  any  branch,  while  low  standing  choice 
of  the  infantry  arm  only.  Thus  from  the  very  day 
of  admission  to  cadet  ranks  the  well  posted  ones 
worked  under  the  spur  of  competitive  ambition, 
knowing  that  every  neglect  or  oversight  affecting 
their  marks,  as  well  as  every  duty  well  performed 
and  lesson  mastered,  would  have  its  bearing  on  their 
future  field  of  activity,  and  knowing  too  that  the 
choice  positions  for  life,  were  well  worth  four  years 
of  struggle,  absolutely  necessary  any  way. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year,  after  the  discipline 
of  "plebe  camp"  with  its  interminable  drills  and  pa 
rades  and  guard  duties,  covering  the  summer  of  en 
tering,  with  its  bracing  and  hardening  of  the  muscles 
and  filling  the  system  with  exuberent  life  also  giving 
poise  and  self  reliance  to  the  mind ;  followed  by  the 
entry  into  barracks  and  continuance  of  study  for  a 
year,  the  plebe  arrives  at  the  dignity  of  "Yearlings," 
and  may  be  in  turn  placed  over  new  cadets,  if  ap 
pointed  corporal,  and  is  relieved  of  the  necessity  for 
using  "sir"  any  longer  to  older  cadets,  and  becomes 
a  full-fledged  member  of  the  cadet  family,  with  a 
fair  prospect  of  completing  the  course  while  enjoy 
ing  a  better  condition  of  mind  and  body  and  control 
of  his  own  powers  than  ever  before.  Like  an  ath 
lete  in  perfect  training,  he  is  ready  and  able  to  do 
with  pleasure,  and  enjoy  the  doing,  tasks  hitherto 
beyond  his  power  of  mind  or  body. 

Thanks  to  my  previous  training  the  studies  while 
hard  and  lessons  long  were  yet  easily  within  my 
powers,  and  left  me  free  from  worry  after  passing 
my  first  semi-annual  examination. 

My  weight  on  entering  was  120  pounds,  stripped, 
and  it  illustrates  the  tension  and  persistence  of  the 
forces  working  on  me,  that  I  did  not  gain  a  pound 


58  Latent  Hostilities  Between  Classes 

during  my  four-year  course  at  West  Point,  but  gain 
ed  fifteen  pounds  in  three  weeks  after  the  victory 
was  won  and  I  had  received  my  diploma. 

The  first  year,  breaking  me  in  to  the  discipline, 
was  very  trying,  for  I  had  little  of  the  stoic  in  my 
nature,  was  over-sensitive,  over-conscientious,  and 
a  trifle  too  slight  in  build  for  the  physical  strains  of 
many  kinds,  especially  when  coupled  with  the  ex 
acting  course  of  studies,  yet  I  do  not  remember  of 
ever  being  in  the  hospital  or  haying  to  miss  a  reci 
tation  or  drill  on  account  of  sickness,  so  regular, 
simple  and  normal  was  my  life. 

There  is  always  a  feeling  of  formality  toward  se 
niors  by  junior  cadets  and  often  some  hostility  even, 
between  any  given  class  and  the  one  immediately 
ahead  of  it,  for  such  class  having  had  direct  author 
ity  in  drills,  etc.,  over  the  class  following,  could  not 
help  creating  some  feeling  by  the  occasional  abuse 
of  such  authority.  Fist  fights  thus  arose  and  some 
times  resulted  seriously,  and  were  only  fought  be 
tween  such  classes. 

When  summer  camp  was  over  and  studies  re 
sumed  in  barracks,  the  occasion  for  and  occurrence 
of  such  combats  practically  ceased  in  the  presence 
of  the  more  serious  work  and  fully  occupied  time. 
One  feature  of  my  cadet  life  that  I  enjoyed  most  was 
the  music  by  the  superb  military  band  there,  which 
plays  something  almost  daily,  either  at  guard  mount 
ing,  parade,  drill  or  evening  concert  on  Saturdays, 
when  cadets  did  not  have  to  study.  These  evening 
concerts,  given  in  the  library  building,  were  my 
special  joy  as  I  could  make  myself  comfortable  in 
some  quiet  corner  among  the  books,  and  give  myself 
up  to  the  spirit  of  the  composer,  making  a  thous 
and  mental  pictures  to  suit  the  music. 

Another  feature  of  the  music  was  its  influence 
in  refining  my  feelings,  stimulating  my  imagination 


Aesthetic  Influence  at  West  Point  59 

and  giving  me  so  much  good  music,  as  to  prevent  my 
ever  caring  for  inferior  kinds,  or  even  coarse  or  vul 
gar  things  of  any  kind.  This  influence  was  in  har 
mony  with  the  beautiful  surroundings  for  which  the 
region  is  famous.  The  picturesque  and  well-kept 
grounds  of  the  academy  itself,  the  stately  buildings, 
the  majestic  Hudson  river,  burdened  with  commerce, 
the  grand  hills  rising  from  the  river  and  covered  with 
forests  which  took  on  gorgeous  autumn  hues  in  sea 
son,  together  with  the  influence  of  studious  life; 
all  combined  to  make  a  touch  of  fairy  land  and  was 
a  joy  every  day  I  was  under  it. 

The  excellent  library,  covering  general  literature, 
as  well  as  military  topics,  helped  to  give  me  broad 
ness  and  culture. 

When  my  progress  in  French  and  Spanish  open 
ed  for  me  the  doors  to  those  literatures  I  reveled  in 
the  new  fields  and  became  drawn  to  their  point  of 
view  in  ways  that  opened  my  mental  appreciation  of 
the  great  Old  World. 

One  of  our  most  popular  drills  was  that  of  mount 
ed  exercises  in  the  "riding  hall/  followed  later  by 
mounted  drill  out  of  doors,  and  occasional  "road 
rides'  through  the  surrounding  country.  In 
the  riding  hall  we  became  more  or  less  expert  at 
showy  performances,  such  as  bareback  riding,  hur 
dle  jumping,  mounted  wrestling,  sabre  combats,  etc., 
till  I  felt  very  much  at  home  on  horseback,  which  I 
had  been  used  to  as  a  boy.  My  class  standing  gave 
me  choice  of  the  cavalry  for  my  field  of  service 
and  which  I  enjoyed  during  my  long  years  of  active 
military  service. 

After  two  years  I  received  a  cadet  furlough  or 
vacation  of  ten  weeks  in  the  summer  of  1881  which 
gave  me  my  first  chance  to  compare  cadet  life  with 
civil  life.  I  visited  among  my  mother's  people  in 
Massachusetts,  staying  mostly  with  my  sister  in 


60  Effects  of  an  Assured  Income 

Worcester  and  my  brother  in  Boston.  Already  the 
lure  and  excitement  of  a  military  future  was  upon  me 
and  beyond  enjoying  the  recreations  of  civil  life,  I 
had  no  regrets  that  I  had  left  it,  and  after  a  thor 
oughly  enjoyed  round  of  theatres,  parties, 
yachting  and  visits  to  the  beaches,  I  went  back 
cheerfully  and  with  confidence  of  success  to  my 
studies.  I  had  been  away  from  my  home  and  father 
and  mother  five  or  six  years  and  I  began  to  feel 
independent,  with  a  degree  of  self-reliance  that  made 
life's  duties  seem  easy  and  the  future  very  rose- 
colored  and  inviting. 

The  assurance  of  freedom  from  financial  worry 
and  from  the  need  of  earning  my  own  living  in  a 
business  way,  which  came  with  the  allowances  and 
military  pay  of  a  cadet,  to  be  followed  by  a  modest 
but  assured  income  as  an  officer,  lifted  a  great  load 
from  my  mind.  Since  childhood  I  had  made  more  or 
less  of  a  bugbear  out  of  "earning  a  living,"  and  this 
freedom  from  such  worry;  knowing  that  "Uncle 
Sam"  could  and  would  look  after  my  financial  needs, 
seemed  to  give  me  more  power  for  study  and  cour 
age  for  anything  I  might  be  called  upon  to  do. 

Life  became  worth  living  and  my  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  ambition  to  be  a  broad  minded  cul 
tured  officer  and  gentleman  a  credit  to  the  academy 
and  useful  member  of  the  army,  took  new  force  day 
by  day.  I  have  often  wondered  if  under  other  cir 
cumstances  I  could  have  disproved  Franklin's  pro 
verb,  "It  is  hard  for  an  empty  sack  to  stand  up 
right."  A  fixed  income  certainly  helps. 

The  summer  is  the  time  of  gayety  for  cadets,  by 
reason  of  the  visitors  at  the  hotels  at  West  Point 
and  at  Highland  Falls,  who  come  to  the  cadet  "hops" 
at  night  and  to  parades  and  drills  in  camp  by  day, 
and  who  are  not  above  flirting  desperately  with 
these  unsophisticated  sons  of  Mars.  Sometimes'  a 


Social  Opportunities  of  a  Cadet  61 

school  like  Vassar  sends  a  boatload  of  beautiful 
girls  on  a  picnic  for  a  day,  whereupon  mirth  and  mis 
chief  rule  around  the  camp  till  time  for  them  to  go, 
leaving  behind  and  taking  with  them  many  souve 
nirs. 

Cadet  bell-buttons,  especially  from  over  the 
heart,  were  most  popular  with  the  visiting  girls,  and 
most  readily  attained  in  the  hurry  and  sorrow  of 
parting.  Now  plebes  are  not  supposed  to  have  any 
feelings  and  by  an  unwritten  law  of  camp  were  not 
permitted  to  "spoon  visitors"  or  go  to  the  hops, 
where  already  were  a  dozen  cadets  for  every  young 
lady  present.  Girls  were  belles  indeed,  there.  I  met 
some  visitors  at  the  station,  one  of  whom  was  the 
daughter  of  a  railroad  contractor  on  a  local  piece  of 
the  West  Shore  Railroad,  then  in  process  of  con 
struction,  and  we  became  very  good  friends,  not  only 
while  I  was  there,  but  also  for  a  considerable  time 
after  I  joined  the  regiment  in  Montana  after  grad 
uating.  Her  friendship  was  a  help  to  me  in  many 
ways,  giving  me  a  touch  with  the  outside  world,  and 
a  stimulus  to  composition,  in  our  correspondence, 
which  was  somewhat  high-flown  on  both  sides,  but 
of  value  nevertheless  as  part  of  an  education. 

Several  of  my  class  mates  became  engaged  while 
cadets,  and  were  married  at  once  after  graduation, 
but  generally  cadets  are  advised  to  postpone  matri 
mony  till  they  have  rank  enough  to  get  quarters  for 
a  family,  for  quarters  are  not  always  available  for 
young  officer's  families,  and  early  marriages  were 
discouraged,  though  not  forbidden. 

The  last  two  years  to  the  average  cadet  passed 
quickly  and  more  or  less  pleasantly  with  the  in 
creasing  importance  we  felt,  with  progress  in  our 
studies  in  our  authority  and  the  greater  considera 
tion  we  enjoyed  from  the  officers  over  us,  as  we  ap 
proached  graduation  and  became  eligible  to  join 


62  Social  Status  of  a  West  Pointer 

them  as  brother  officers.  The  incentive  to  study 
and  good  behavior  is  strong,  for  the  prize  of  an  hon 
orable  calling,  carrying  with  it  some  social  import 
ance  and  a  livable  certain  income  (increasing  with 
rank  and  time),  is  always  in  sight,  in  the  lives  and 
families  of  the  officers  on  duty  there  with  them. 

To  graduate  is  to  step  at  once  into  the  rewards 
which  most  men  never  attain  at  all,  or  at  the  end  of 
years  of  struggle  and  privation,  viz :  authority,  fi 
nancial  independence,  congenial  duties,  and  social 
standing  making  them  eligible  to  any  social  circle 
in  the  w'orld  where  their  official  status  permits 
them  to  enter  as  equals.  And  this  to  beardless  young 
men! 

"Christmas  leaves"  of  a  week  or  ten  days  were 
granted  upper  class  men  who  were  well  up  in  their 
studies  and  with  a  good  record  in  deportment,  and  I 
had  the  good  luck  to  enjoy  one  of  these  and  getting 
a  visit  with  relatives  that  made  a  bright  spot  in  the 
routine  grind.  On  returning  several  of  us  met  at  Al 
bany  in  cadet  uniform  at  the  N.  Y.  C.  R.  R.  station 
and  found  we  had  to  wait  some  two  or  three  hours 
for  a  midnight  train  down  the  river.  One  of  the  par 
ty  knew  of  a  fashionable  ball  then  in  progress  not 
very  far  away,  and  we  persuaded  him  to  introduce 
us  to  the  hostess,  which  he  did  and  we  were  made 
welcome,  especially  by  the  young  ladies,  who  very 
generally  split  their  dances  with  us  and  even  shared 
their  supper  engagements. 

This  shows  the  really  welcome  given  Uncle 
Sam's  army  or  navy  uniform  without  question  in  any 
social  gathering  of  people  of  refinement  and  culture. 

Each  annual  graduation  day  was  alike  in  hav 
ing  a  large  crowd  of  visitors,  some  prominent  general 
to  give  a  little  talk  and  hand  out  the  diplomas  fol 
lowing  a  long  set  speech  by  some  distinguished  pol 
itician.  The  culmination  of  a  period  of  examina- 


Graduation   Pays  63 


tions,  parades,  reviews  for  distinguished  people,  do 
mestic  or  foreign. 

We  must  not  forget  "Graduation  Ball,"  bringing 
swarms  of  lovely  girls  from  all  parts  of  the  coun 
try.  Every  college  has  its  customs,  but  the  military 
academy  is  unique.  Every  cadet  is  an  embryo  "of 
ficer  and  gentleman,"  with  a  sure  place  in  the  social 
and  political  circle.  There  is  a  prospect  also  of  great 
ness,  in  case  opportunity  arises.  It  is  no  wonder, 
therefore,  that  mothers  with  marriageable  daugh 
ters,  look  with  favor  on  a  visit  to  West  Point  about 
graduating  time,  and  even  yield  to  their  daughters' 
wish  to  prolong  their  stay  for  part  of  the  summer. 
So  many  gallant  cadets  give  a  girl  a  rare  chance  to 
enjoy  masculine  society  in  perfect  safety,  except  to 
her  heart. 

Well,  my  graduating  day  came  at  last.  Examina 
tions  successfully  passed  fixed  my  rank  or  standing 
in  the  class,  decided  my  eligibility  for  the  cavalry, 
and  ended  all  my  worries  which  had  hung  like  a 
cloud  over  me  the  better  part  of  four  years.  I  could 
hardly  realize  the  value  of  the  prize  I  had  won.  My 
diploma  was  my  passport  to  so  many  delightful 
things,  and  had  such  thrilling  possibilities  in  reserve, 
that  every  day  brought  me  some  new  delight  in 
thinking  of  my  future.  I  had  been  measured  for  my 
new  uniform  as  a  cavalry  officer,  also  for  the  class 
ring,  choosing  a  bloodstone  for  my  birth  month, 
which  was  later  to  be  engraved  with  the  regimental 
crest  and  motto  for  use  as  a  seal.  I  had  selected 
two  or  three  regiments  for  my  choice  in  turn  if  not 
taken  by  some  higher  standing  classmate. 

All  was  in  readiness  to  let  the  fledgling  out  of 
the  nest  with  a  leave  of  absence  on  full  pay,  till  the 
date  in  September,  when  I  should  join  the  regiment. 

Up  to  this  point  in  my  career  everything  may  be 
said  to  have  smiled  upon  me.  My  ancestors  had  giv- 


64  How  Irksome  Drills  Passed  Quickly 

en  me  a  good  New  England  head,  and  my  parents 
a  sound  constitution  and  good  manners  with  a  trend 
toward  the  intellectual  life.  My  various  relatives 
had  been  kind  and  helpful  in  turn,  for  which  I  was 
not  at  the  time  as  appreciative  as  I  am  now.  Circum 
stances  were  distinctly  favorable  as  I  now  look  back, 
and  my  patience,  persistence,  and  step  by  step  pre 
paring  for  what  followed  proved  sufficient  to  bring 
me  to  this  happy  point.  Few  college  men  have  the 
path  after  graduating  made  as  smooth  for  them  as 
it  is  for  cadets.  Few  enjoy  their  freedom  on  comple 
ting  their  studies  as  I  did.  It  was  a  new  joy  daily  to 
wake  up  and  look  ahead. 

No  wonder  every  faculty  of  mind  and  body  re 
paid  me  by  joy  for  relief  from  the  four  years  grind, 
and  rapidly  put  my  weight  up  fifteen  pounds  which 
was  more  nearly  normal  than  cadet  weight. 

Our  drills  on  foot  were  very  irksome  to  me  and  I 
relieved  the  monotony  by  repeating  my  class  roll  to 
the  cadence  of  the  drill  step.  This  seemed  to  short 
en  the  drill  and  I  learned  and  repeated  silently  of 
course,  the  names  of  all  the  cadets  above  and  below 
me  in  their  class  roll  and  also  brought  into  my  mental 
vision  a  picture  of  the  cadet  whose  name  I  repeated ; 
some  800  in  all.  I  must  have  repeated  this  practice 
many  hundred  times  in  the  last  half  of  my  course. 
A  striking  result  followed.  From  having  a  poor 
memory  of  names  and  words  I  noticed  that  I  learned 
prose  much  more  readily,  caught  and  held  onto  new 
names  and  new  words,  learned  my  Spanish  lessons 
at  a  glance  and  in  general  enjoyed  a  great  strength 
ening  of  my  memory  whenever  it  related  to  words, 
names  or  faces.  It  tremendously  strengthened  my 
power  of  expression  and  command  of  language,  giv 
ing  me  a  decided  help  in  my  studies  and  made  my 
class  standing  higher.  From  difficulty  in  the  choice 
of  words  to  express  myself,  I  passed  to  facility,  I 


Curious  Effect  of  Repeating  Names  65 

might  almost  say  felicity  of  speech.  From 
almost  a  distaste  for  poetry  I  changed  to  en 
joying  it  by  the  ready  memory  I  developed 
for  the  words  and  phrases.  My  recitations  were 
w  ere  easier  to  learn  and  far  better  in  recital.  I  think 
I  profited  as  much  mentally  by  this  chance 
"memory  training"  as  by  any  one  thing  in 
the  official  course  of  study.  Before  I  began  this  prac 
tice  I  stood  in  French  about  28th  whereas  after  a 
year  or  so  of  it,  when  we  took  up  Spanish  I  rose 
quickly  to  4th  or  3rd  place  in  my  class  without  any 
particular  effort,  showing  the  remarkable  facility  in 
languages  gained  by  simple  repetition  of  many  class 
rolls  arranged  alphabetically  when  my  mind  had  no 
other  distraction  than  the  routine  of  the  drill.  It 
made  a  change  in  my  whole  point  of  view  towards 
life,  literature  and  languages  with  much  increased 
joy  in  living. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Graduation  Leave. 

It  was  a  custom  to  follow  graduation  with  a 
class  dinner  in  New  York  City  before  scattering 
broadcast  over  the  land,  and  I  shall  never  cease  re 
gretting  the  delay  on  the  West  Shore  R.  R.,  then  new 
ly  opened,  which  made  me  so  late  that  I  only  reached 
the  scene  of  festivities  at  "Delmonico's"  as  the  feast 
was  breaking  up  and  many  already  gone,  some  of 
whom  are  now  passed  over. 

After  a  few  days  visit  with  my  cousins  in  the 
city,  I  went  to  Worcester  and  again  to  Boston 
where  I  got  my  uniforms  completed  with  insignia 
for  the  Second  Regiment  of  Cavalry,  then  stationed 
in  the  wilds  of  Montana. 

Captain  Samuel  M.  Swigert  was  the  officer  in 
command  of  Troop  F  of  that  regiment,  and  though 
unknown  to  me,  warmed  my  heart  and  cheered  my 
soul  by  a  cordial  letter  saying  he  was  glad  to  have  a 
West  Pointer  as  his  "Second"  Lieutenant,  and  bade 
me  feel  sure  of  a  hearty  welcome  by  him  or  his  fam 
ily  on  my  arrival  to  report  for  duty. 

He  added  some  kind  advice  as  to  outfit,  and  in 
every  way  laid  aside  the  formal  feeling  I  had  expect 
ed  to  meet. 

It  added  a  new  note  of  pleasure  to  my  vacation, 
knowing  I  should  be  taken  care  of  and  made  to  feel 
at  home  when  I  joined,  and  left  me  free  to  enjoy 
myself  the  more,  from  having  this  uncertainty  off 
my  mind.  Keyed  up  to  such  a  pitch  of  enjoyable 
tension,  every  normal  joy  of  living  seemed  multiplied 


Graduation  Leave  67 


four-fold.  The  sky  was  bluer,  food  better,  flowers 
prettier,  people  pleasanter  and  life  sweeter  than 
ever  before. 

Summer  garden  theaters  seemed  like  fairy  land 
and  the  melodramas  played  therein  represented 
perfection  to  my  indulgent  eyes,  and  over  respondent 
emotions.  Part  of  the  summer  was  spent  with  old 
Whitestown  Seminary  friends  who  met  at  Utica  ta 
go  on  an  excursion  of  some  weeks  to  the  "Thous 
and  Islands"  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  to  which 
they  invited  me,  on  learning  of  my  freedom  to  go. 

Dr.  Smith  Baker  of  Whitestown,  a  young  prac 
titioner,  who  had  made  himself  my  friend  and  ad 
viser  when  I  was  a  student  there  and  had  carried  me 
through  a  severe  case  of  sickness,  was  the  one  I  went 
to  see  when  the  excursion  was  broached  and  it  was 
heartily  recommended  by  him.  I  went  and  enjoyed 
what  might,  under  other  circumstances,  have  been 
ordinary  and  common-place,  with  as  much  gusto  as 
if  I  were  a  new  comer  to  the  planet,  so  wholesome, 
sweet,  pleasant  and  beautiful  did  everything  seem 
on  the  trip. 

The  party  consisted  of  some  ten  or  twelve  young 
people,  all  of  whom  had  been  Whitestown  Seminary 
students,  most  of  them  classmates  of  mine  there, 
with  a  couple  of  chaperones,  all  ripe  for  a  rest  from 
work  and  frolic  on  the  water.  A  large  cottage  shel 
tered  us  all,  was  near  the  famous  hotel  "Thousand 
Island  House"  and  accessible  by  railroad,  team  or 
boats,  of  which  the  house  had  two,  for  our  service. 

Now  the  unique  feature  of 'the  outing  was  that 
it  was  "personally  conducted"  in  every  detail,  by  the 
members  themselves,  having  brought  their  own  pro 
visions,  done  their  own  cooking  and  lived  like  one 
big  family,  though  I  doubt  if  any  family  so  large 
was  ever  so  harmonious  and  persistently  joyous  and 
tolerant  of  each  other's  short  comings.  Our  party 


68  Trip  to  Thousand  Islands 

was  organized  into  two  boat  crews,  and  drilled  in 
handling  the  boats  as  I  had  learned  at  West  Point. 
Taking  lunches,  our  whole  party  in  the  boats  made 
picnic  trips  to  various  points  among  the  islands,  and 
we  had  also  the  "Island  Wanderer,"  a  steamboat 
for  longer  trips.  Moonlight  nights  were  the  rule 
and  musical  parties  were  frequent,  rowing  several 
miles  up  stream  and  drifting  down  with  song  and 
guitar,  or  listening  to  the  efforts  of  musicians  in  the 
cottages  and  summer  resorts  along  the  shore.  At 
such  times  the  river  would  be  aglow  with  colored 
lanterns  and  boat  lights.  Wonderfully  beautiful  and 
romantic  effects  were  produced  on  the  river.  Bad 
weather  found  us  in  cozy  quarters  in  the  cottage 
playing  games  or  listening  to  some  good  reader.  Al 
together  it  was  a  very  pleasant  episode,  and  cement 
ed  into  endearing  friendships  the  school  acquaint 
ances,  whom  I  could  not  have  known  otherwise 
nearly  so  well.  We  organized  ourselves  into  the 
"Point  Vivian"  club  after  the  name  of  the  cottage 
point  on  the  river,  and  I  was  kept  posted  for  years 
by  the  "Secretary"  as  to  the  doings  of  the  members. 
Naturally  there  were  some  romances  and  even  mar 
riages  from  the  intimate  association  there  possible. 
I  visited  at  homes  of  several  and  appreciated  the 
many  excellent  qualities  developed  in  these  modest 
farming  people  of  the  Mohawk  Valley.  Going  down 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  Ogdensburg  was  a  fit  ending  of 
this  water  trip  and  impressed  me  with  the  majesty 
of  this  great  boundary  river.  At  Ogdensburg  I  vis 
ited  my  uncle,  Miles  Bryan,  and  his  family  and  found 
them  very  lovable,  wholesome  people,  who  took  me 
on  trips  to  Canadian  towns  across  the  river  to  show 
me  how  much  cheaper  most  things  could  be  bought 
there. 

Starting  from  Worcester  near  the   end  of  my 
leave,  I  went  over  the  Northern  Pacific  R.  R.  from 


Across  the  Prairies  to  Fort  Custer  69 

Chicago,  stopping  at  Mankato  and  St.  Paul  to  visit 
Aunt  Ellen  (Bryan)  Dornberg,  and  Cousin  Hattie 
Bryan  (from  Ogdensburg)  for  whom  I  developed  a 
very  lively  affection.  Having  so  fully  enjoyed  my 
long  leave,  I  was  ready  and  eager  to  get  to  my  sta 
tion  at  Fort  Custer,  Montana,  and  report  for  duty 
with  the  regiment. 

The  endless  prairies,  with  their  bare,  brown 
tints  were  new  to  me  and  I  could  hardly  see  how  the 
railroad  could  expect  prosperity  from  such  a  deso 
late,  barren  country  as  it  then  appeared  to  me.  The 
road  had  just  been  opened  recently  and  was  not  in 
the  best  of  running  order  and  I  suffered  much  incon 
venience  by  my  trunk  going  clear  through  to  Port 
land,  Oregon,  with  most  of  my  uniform  and  equip 
ment.  But  after  some  weeks  during  which  the  rail 
road  was  entertaining  many  of  its  stockholders  and 
bondholders  on  the  famous  "Villard"  excursions  my 
trunk  was  found  and  returned  to  me  at  Fort  Custer. 
This  particular  trip  to  new  duties  in  a  new  and  wild 
country  impressed  me  deeply  with  the  vastness  of 
the  West,  but  gave  a  sense  of  loneliness  and  isola 
tion  from  civilization  that  did  not  leave  me  until  a 
year  later  when  the  troops  marched  to  the  Pacific 
Coast.  My  welcome  was  given  by  the  captain's  wife 
owing  to  his  absence,  but  was  very  pleasant  and  her 
good  advicexon  social  matters  and  military  customs 
in  garrison  spared  me  many  a  blunder,  and  made 
smooth  my  pathway  till  I  had  time  to  become  famil 
iar  with  my  duties  and  social  obligations,  so  new  and 
unfamiliar. 


2ND  LIEUT.  BRYAN  2ND  CAV. 

While  on  a  visit  from  Fort  Custer,  Mont.,  to  Fort  Keogh,  Mont.,  Christmas,  1883. 
(First  picture  as  an  officer.) 


CHAPTER  X. 

Fort  Custer,  Second  Cavalry. 

Thirty  miles  from  Custer  station  on  the  North 
ern  Pacific  railroad  on  the  high  bluff  at  the  junc 
tion  of  the  Big  Horn  and  Little  Big  Horn  rivers  and 
within  the  Crow  Indian  Reservation  was,  for  that 
time  (1883)  a  large  post  or  garrison  called  Fort  Cus 
ter,  after  General  Custer,  and  owing  its  import 
ance  and  location  to  the  tragic  slaughter  of  his  com 
mand  at  the  Custer  battlefield,  about  twelve  miles 
up  the  Little  Big  Horn,  some  seven  or  eight  years 
before.  There  were  troops  of  cavalry,  companies  of 
infantry  and  batteries  of  field  artillery  and  the  Sec 
ond  Cavalry  band.  The  officers'  quarters,  built  of 
unseasoned  cottonwood  lumber,  were  full  of  air 
spaces,  cracks  and  crannies  which  let  in  the  cold, 
wind  and  even  rain  and  snow,  so  that  they  were  hard 
to  heat.  Water  was  pumped  up  from  the  Big  Horn 
river  to  the  reservoir  or  tank  on  the  bluff  and  dis 
tributed  by  water  wagons  to  the  barrels  in  front  of 
the  different  buildings. 

With  the  thermometer  ranging  in  winter  from 
60  to  70  degrees  when  the  warm  "Chinook"  winds 
blew  from  the  west,  to  30  or  40  degrees  below  zero 
when  from  the  north,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  life 
had  its  drawbacks  in  houses  so  open  and  heated  by 
cottonwood  fuel  in  primitive  stoves. 

The  country  was  open,  rolling  plains,  void  of 
timber,  save  along  the  water  courses,  and  then  most 
ly  cottonwood. 

At  that  time  the  buffalo  herds  had  disappeared, 


72  Vanishing  of   the   Buffalo 

but  only  a  year  or  two  before,  under  the  combined 
attacks  on  them  of  the  Indians  for  food  and  the  pelt 
hunters,  who  killed  them  by  thousands  for  hides 
alone.  The  Indians  not  yet  realizing  the  loss  of  their 
natural  food  supplies,  and  not  yet  fully  supplied  with 
food  by  the  government  nor  trained  to  supply  them 
selves  by  farming,  were  discontented,  hungry  and 
more  or  less  unruly  and  were  kept  on  their  reserva 
tions  with  difficulty.  We  saw  a  great  many  Indians 
about,  especially  at  the  agency,  ten  miles  away. 

But,  during  this  particular  winter  of  1883-4, 
there  was  no  outbreak  and  my  duties  were  very 
light.  I  arrived  in  September,  1883,  and  Captain 
Swigert  being  still  away  from  the  post  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  troop,  cutting  hay  on  the  Big 
Horn  flats  for. the  winters'  supply  for  the  cavalry, 
owing  to  the  deficient  appropriations  of  the  govern 
ment,  I  was  left  in  the  post  in  command  of  the  frac 
tion  of  the  troop  in  barracks.  As  soon  as  severe 
weather  set  in  all  drills  and  field  trips  were  suspen 
ded  and  a  winter  of  comparative  idleness  followed. 
For  the  officers  no  studies  were  required  and  the 
time  was  largely  spent  in  social  calls,  rides  and 
drives,  weekly  "hops"  in  the  chapel  and  in  playing 
interminable  games  of  poker.  As  the  winter  grew 
more  severe,  many  officers'  families  left  the  post  on 
visits  to  their  homes,  leaving  the  hops  reduced  to 
half  a  dozen  ladies,  with  sixty  or  seventy  officers. 
This  stimulated  the  poker  games  which  ran  day  and 
nights  for  weeks  at  a  time  as  I  know,  because  I  had 
quarters  upstairs  over  an  officer  in  whose  rooms  a 
poker  game  was  almost  continuously  in  progress. 
Having  an  instinctive  dislike  for  gambling  and  a  pro 
nounced  distaste  for  liquor,  I  kept  out  of  the  games 
and  avoided  drink  whenever  I  could  without  excit 
ing  too  much  comment.  This  left  me  free  for  study 
and  social  duties  and  while  rather  dull,  carried  me 


In  The  "Good  Old  Days!"  73 

safely  through  the  winter.  I  grew  especially  fond 
of  my  captain  and  his  charming  family. 

The  lot  of  the  enlisted  man  was  not  so  pleasant. 
Those  were  the  days  of  the  "Post  Trader,"  who  car 
ried  a  comparatively  small  stock  of  merchandise 
with  small  profit,  and  a  huge  stock  of  liquors  with 
big  profits.  A  quart  bottle  of  beer,  for  example, 
cost  the  soldier  75  cents,  which  cost  the  trader,  say 
20  cents,  as  he  bought  in  carload  lots. 

The  bar  privilege,  it  was  said,  netted  the  trader 
$60,000  to  $70,000  profit  a  year  at  our  post.  Idle 
ness  without  suitable  recreation,  as  now  provided, 
drove  our  soldiers  there  to  drink  and  gambling  as  it 
did  the  officers,  but  the  soldiers'  small  pay  and  credit 
limited  his  debauch  to  a  few  days  following  pay-day. 
But  such  days! 

A  large  part  of  the  command  drunk  and  out 
of  shape  for  duty,  even  the  guard  not  per 
fectly  sober.  The  guard  house  overflowed 
with  prisoners — men  confined  for  petty  or  se 
rious  delinquencies — and  so  numerous  that  the 
guard  put  the  prisoners  out  for  exercise  on  a  ring, 
called  the  "Bull  Ring/'  and  made  them  walk  round 
and  round,  till  sufficiently  exercised  and  sobered. 
Courtsmartial  were  held  almost  daily  and  as  all  evi 
dence  had  to  be  recorded  and  as  I  was  frequently 
"Judge  Advocate  or  Recorder"  of  such  courts,  I 
spent  many  a  dreary  hour  writing  up  these  "pro 
ceedings  of  a  Garrison  Courtmartial."  Wonderful 
improvements  have  been  made  in  the  service  since 
those  days  and  perhaps  the  best  was  in  cutting  out 
the  sale  of  liquor,  and  the  next  following  was  creat 
ing  schools  for  officers  and  men  during  the  winter 
when  drills  ceased. 

Fort  Custer  was  a  little  more  typical  by  its  iso 
lation,  but  the  same  things  occurred  at  all  stations, 
in  some  degree.  Coming  from  the  eternal  grind  of 


74  Overland  March  to  Pacific  Coast 

study  and  drill  as  a  cadet,  my  freedom  and  light  du 
ties  and  the  social  amenities  of  the  garrison  life 
made  the  winter  pass  quickly  and  m,ore  or  less  pleas 
antly,  but  I  hailed  with  delight  the  order  we  received 
in  the  spring  of  1884  to  march  the  Second  Cavalry 
to  the  Pacific  Coast,  exchanging  stations  with  the 
First  Cavalry,  with  headquarters  and  band  ta 
Fort  Walla  Walla,  near  the  town  of  Walla  Walla, 
Washington,  Territory.  We  left  with  band  mount 
ed,  May  1st,  and  following  the  line  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  R.  R.,  (which  brought  us  our  forage  and  ra 
tions)  we  marched  by  easy  stages  18  to  25 
miles  per  day,  westward  over  flowering  prairies 
and  the  towering  Rocky  Mountain  range  at  Mullen 
Pass,  to  Missoula,  where  we  exchanged  our  wagon 
transportation  for  trains  to  Rathdrum,  Idaho, 
we  found  the  wagons  of  the  First  Cavalry  waiting 
to  take  us  on  to  Walla  Walla.  Eight  hundred  miles 
of  marching  as  a  regiment  under  ideal  conditions !  An 
artist  reporter  went  along  with  us,  made  sketches 
and  wrote  an  interesting  account  of  it  in  Harper's 
Monthly.  It  certainly  was  very  pleasant,  but  they 
do  these  things  differently  now-a-days,  and  to  tell 
all  the  pleasant  features  and  trials,  such  as  muddy 
camps,  shortage  of  rations,  climbing  mountains,  etc., 
would  take  a  volume  in  itself.  We  arrived  at  Walla 
Walla  May  31st  after  taking  a  full  month  to  make 
the  change  in  station ;  and  found  ourselves  in  a  civ 
ilized  community  again,  where  life  was  pleasant, 
friends  numerous  and  the  outlook  cheerful.  It  was 
like  coming  back  east  from  Montana,  though  in  re 
ality  more  than  a  thousand  miles  farther  west. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Forts  Walla  Walla  and  Leavenworth,  1884-1889. 

Walla  Walla  had  a  very  pleasant  social  circle 
composed  of  the  families  of  business,  professional 
and  large  farming  men.  The  country  was  new,  rain 
fall  suited  to  growing  small  grains  which  developed 
a  limited  kind  of  ranching.  The  seasons  of  planting 
and  harvesting  were  spent  on  the  farms,  and  the 
rest  of  the  year  in  the  town.  This  created  a  leisure 
class  who  found  the  garrison  people  congenial  and 
they  naturally  entertained  each  other. 

The  townspeople  gave  us  a  ball  and  reception, 
which  started,  for  me,  a  very  pleasant  social  season, 
cut  short  all  too  soon  by  an  order  to  go  with  a  de 
tachment  of  thirty  men  to  Fort  Lapwai,  Idaho,  to  re 
lieve  the  infantry  garrison  and  watch  the  Nez  Perce 
Indians,  in  whose  reservation  was  the  fort,  some 
thirteen  miles  from  Lewiston,  Idaho.  I  traveled  free 
ly  around  the  country  about  my  new  station,  getting 
acquainted  with  the  people  and  the  topography, 
spent  many  a  night  at  country  dances  that  broke  up 
at  sunrise  and  in  turn  I  gave  a  party  to  the  commu 
nity  at  the  fort  before  leaving.  I  was  there  about 
three  months,  most  of  the  time  the  only  officer  and 
depended  on  the  people  of  the  small  town  of  Lewis- 
ton  and  the  teachers  at  the  reservation  school  for 
my  social  recreation.  It  was  my  first  command -of 
a  station,  and  the  pleasure  of  being  a  "Commanding 
Officer"  compensated  largely  for  the  dreary  isola 
tion  of  the  abandoned  post. 

It  gave  me  more  freedom  and  authority  than 


76  Scouting  Practice  in  the  North  West 

often  fell  to  a  second  lieutenant  and  gave  me  early 
in  my  career,  a  taste  for  power  even  when 
paid  for,  as  in  this  case,  by  many  deprivations. 
This  inclination  made  me  seek  and  volunteer 
for  disagreeable  duties  where  they  gave  me 
freedom  from  direct  control  by  my  superiors  while 
giving  me  a  command  over  soldiers,  and  throwing 
me  on  my  own  responsibilities  to  carry  out  orders. 

This  love  of  power  prompted  me  to  strive  for  in 
dependence  of  the  army,  and  led  me  into  ventures 
that  promised  financial  independence.  My  next  step 
was  to  return  to  Walla  Walla,  spending  a  few  pleas 
ant  weeks  and  then  going  for  my  first  "field  trip" 
on  a  map  making  and  scouting  practice  march  across 
the  "Big  Bend"  country  to  a  crossing  of  the  Colum 
bia  river  at  what  is  now  Wenatchee,  Wash.,  and  on 
up  to  the  summit  of  the  Cascade  Range  of  mountains 
in  the  path  of  the  surveyors  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
R.  R.,  then  only  finished  to  Ellensburg.  I  had  only 
thirty  men  mounted,  with  a  pack  train  of  twenty- 
four  mules  to  carry  our  field  equipage,  rations  and 
forage.  We  all  had  small  shelter  tents,  two  men  to 
a  tent  made  of  two  pieces  of  canvas  and  just  high 
enough  to  crawl  into  and  hardly  long  enough  to  cover 
the  feet.  Our  route  lay  across  grass-covered  prairies 
whose  sun-cured  grass  served  as  hay  when  the 
horses  and  mules  were  herded  out  on  it,  after  mak 
ing  camp  each  day.  I  kept  a  note  book  in  which  I 
recorded  data  for  my  report  and  maps.  These  were 
completed  and  turned  in  after  return  from  my  trip. 
The  country  was  wild  and  sparsely  settled,  cattle 
and  horses  being  the  principal  products,  where  are 
now  large  tracts  of  excellent  grain  land. 

I  was  out  nearly  three  months,  getting  new  sup 
plies  of  rations  and  forage  from  Fort  Walla  Walla, 
and  it  was  with  distinct  regret  that  I  joined  a  larger 
command  under  Capt.  E.  L.  Huggins,  near  Yakima, 


Detached  Service  at  Fort  Spokane  77 

to  return  to  Walla  Walla,  so  agreeable  had  been  the 
'trip  of  my  little  command  where  I  was  alone  in  au 
thority.  I  was  then  twenty-four  and  everything  on 
the  trip  seemed  better  because  I  decided  things, 
than  after  I  joined  Captain  H.  and  lost  my  independ 
ent  command  and  authority. 

I  got  back  with  the  combined  command  in  the 
fall  of  1885  to  headquarters  at  the  fort  and  had  a 
few  months  more  of  the  social  gayeties,  balls,  cotil 
lions,  riding  parties,  etc.,  and  just  began  to  feel  well 
acquainted  with  the  townspeople  when  again  I  was 
sent  on  "detached  service/'  I  hated  to  go  this 
time,  for  I  left  many  friends  among  the  young 
people  in  the  social  set,  from  whom  it  was  a  trial 
to  part.  I  was  not  in  love  with  any  one,  but  it  may 
have  been  very  near  love.  Any  way  life  at  regiment 
al  headquarters  with  the  band  and  near  a  pleasant 
social  center,  was  far  preferable  to  the  station  in 
the  Wilderness,  seventy  miles  north  of  Spokane,  ad 
joining  the  Moses  Indian  Reservation  with  only 
buckboard  communication  with  the  outside  world. 

Fort  Spokane  was  my  destination  and  the  com 
mand  of  troop  of  my  regiment  was  to  be  my  duty 
in  the  absence  of  its  captain  and  first  lieutenant.  The 
remainder  of  the  garrison  was  a  battalion  of  infan 
try  and  the  commanding  officer  was  Lieutenant-Col 
onel  Fletcher,  who  being  an  infantry  officer,  left  me 
a  large  measure  of  freedom  as  to  drilling  and  man 
aging  the  troop  of  cavalry.  Having  horses  that 
needed  exercise  I  could  grant  favors  by  furnishing 
mounts  for  riding  parties,  etc.,  which  gave  me  a 
fictitious  importance  at  the  time  and  caused  me  to 
be  treated  as  one  of  the  captains,  and  this  in  turn 
made  up  for  the  remoteness  and  discomfort  of  the 
life  there.  More  than  all,  however,  was  the  pres 
ence,  as  a  visitor  to  a  brother  officer  of  Miss  Suzanne 
Earle,  from  Washington,  D.  C.  Being  a  young  lady 


78  A  Charming  Visitor 

of  good  family,  well  educated,  with  charming  tact 
and  courtesy,  fit  to  grace  any  social  circle,  she  quick 
ly  became  a  general  favorite,  and  to  me  a  revelation 
of  a  class  of  women  of  whom  I  knew  little  before. 
We  became  great  friends,  took  many  jaunts  and  pic 
nics  on  horseback  and  in  a  cutter  which  I  drove,  to 
the  principal  points  of  interest  in  a  day's  journey 
from  the  post.  She  was  very  congenial  company  to 
men  and  women.  I  had  been  at  Fort  Lapwai  with 
her  brother  and  in  one  of  his  confidential  chats  he 
told  me  of  the  loss  of  his  father,  a  high  official  in  the 
postal  department,  leaving  the  family  in  straight 
ened  circumstances  and  how  bravely  his  sisters  had 
risen  to  the  emergency,  by  opening  a  school  in  their 
home,  "The  Maples,"  in  Georgetown.  "Miss  Dickey," 
as  we  called  her  after  her  brother  Richard,  was 
equally  gracious  to  the  four  or  five  bachelor  officers 
there  that  winter,  and  apparently  liked  by  all  to  a 
more  than  friendly  degree.  Had  I  not  known  the 
circumstances  of  her  family  and  lack  of  freeheart- 
edness  herself  and  had  my  stay  been  more  prolonged 
I  would  have  probably  fallen  a  victim,  as  some  of  the 
others  did,  to  her  many  personal  and  mental  charms. 
Aside  from  this  delightful  friendship  there  was  lit 
tle  of  importance  occurred  at  the  fort  that  winter 
and  I  was  called  back  to  duty  with  my  own  troop  at 
Walla  Walla,  in  the  early  spring  of  1886.  I  went 
across  country  on  the  invitation  of  General  T.  R. 
Tannatt,  ex-army  officer,  agent  for  the  railroad  lands 
in  the  "Palouse  country,"  south  of  Spokane, 
to  examine  some  of  his  land  with  a  view  to  purchase. 
This  area  is  the  granary  of  the  northwest,  with  a 
practically  inexhaustable  soil  of  decomposed  lava,  and 
was  a  revelation  to  me  of  possibilities  of  independ 
ence  of  the  army  and  comfortable  competence  for 
small  outlay.  I  then  and  there  began  a  series  of 
speculative  land  investments  that  influenced  my 


Becoming  a   Land  Holder  79 

whole  life,  and  made  me  familiar  with  sums  of  my 
own  money,  of  which  I  should  never  have  dreamed  as 
an  officer  on  my  pay  alone.  Picking  out  several 
choice  pieces  of  virgin  land,  I  returned  to  Walla 
Walla  with  a  new  interest  and  hope  in  life,  which 
was  to  make  a  modest  fortune  and  at  the  end  of  my 
eight  years  of  obligatory  service  to  resign  from  ac 
tive  duty  with  the  army,  unless  war  or  other  emer 
gency  kept  me  in  place. 

On  my  return  to  Walla  Walla  I  closed  out  some 
mortgages  for  small  amounts,  drawing  18  per  cent, 
against  the  advice  of  my  banker,  and  made  part  pay 
ment  on  160  acres  of  the  land  I  had  inspected.  I 
secured  an  agent  in  the  vicinity  of  the  land  and  had 
the  land  plowed  and  fenced.  It  rented  quickly  to  a 
"homesteader"  adjoining  who  agreed  to  give  as  rent 
one-third  of  the  crop  delivered  at  the  warehouse,  he 
to  stand  the  expense  of  putting  in  the  crop,  harvest 
ing  and  hauling  my  third  to  town.  This  plan  was 
pursued  with  other  pieces  of  these  railroad  lands, 
bought  on  credit,  with  a  payment  of  one  dollar  per 
acre  each  year  for  seven  years,  giving  7  per  cent 
interest  on  the  deferred  payments.  Each  year  more 
land  paid  me  rentals  which  in  turn  went  to  buy  more 
land  or  to  break  from  virgin  sod  part  of  what  I  al 
ready  owned.  This  process  was  kept  up  till  I  had 
some  1200  acres  of  choice  farming  land  in  fragments 
of  160  and  320  acres,  each  surrounded  by  homestead 
ers  whose  160  acres  was  too  little  for  a  living  by 
grain  growing  alone,  and  made  them  eager  to  rent 
my  land.  I  also  invested  for  my  brother  Lyman,  in 
these  choice  lands,  and  we  made  profits  of  20  to  30 
per  cent,  on  the  crops,  according  to  the  harvest.  One 
year,  the  best,  I  received  over  $5,000  as  rentals  from 
my  five  farms  there.  I  made  one  serious  mistake, 
however,  in  borrowing  money  from  my  brother  to 
pay  off  quicker  some  of  the  deferred  payments,  and 


80  How  Absentee  Landholding  Worked 

get  title,  for  which   borrowed   money  I    gave   him 
mortgages  on  the  land. 

These  mortgages  were  to  prove  my  undoing  a 
few  years  later.  This  experience  of  farming  through 
an  agent  worked  well  there,  where  renters  and 
agents  were  fairly  trustworthy,  but  led  me 
into  trouble  later  in  Arizona  when  I  tried  to  repeat 
the  operation. 

The  winter  of  '86-87  was  pleasantly  spent  in 
Walla  Walla  with  my  many  young  lady  friends,  but 
the  spring  of  1887  saw  me  again  sent  away  (to  Fort 
Coeur  d'Alene,  Idaho,  later  called  Fort  Sherman  and 
since  abandoned)  to  command  another  troop  of  my 
regiment,  whose  officers  were  all  temporarily  absent. 
This  detail,  with  its  fine  trout  fishing  in  the  lake, 
and  its  prairie  chicken  and  quail  hunting  in  the  hills 
and  boating  on  the  lake  (Coeur  d'Alene)  was  thor 
oughly  enjoyed  during  the  summer. 

I  studied  the  public  lands  near-by,  and  found  that 
the  N.  P.  R.  R.  owned  every  other  section  in  that 
part  of  the  country. 

I  bought  some  pieces  of  land  bordering  on  the 
Coeur  d'Alene  river,  with  a  view  to  making  it  my 
summer  home,  with  irrigation  from  the  river  easily 
done  by  pumping.  It  afterwards  became  part  of  the 
lands  I  turned  over  to  my  brother  to  cancel  his 
mortgages  and  became  quite  valuable,  justifying 
my  judgment  in  buying  it  when  part  of  the  wilder 
ness  as  yet  undeveloped,  owing  to  its  timbered  con 
dition. 

In  August,  1887,  I  was  relieved  from  duty  at 
Fort  Coeur  d'Alene  and  returned  to  Fort  Walla 
Walla,  but  while  at  the  mountain  station  I  had  the 
experience  of  being  in  charge  of  the  Second  Infan 
try  Band  from  Coeur  d'Alene  to  Tacoma  over  the 
Cascade  Range  to  help  celebrate  the  completion  of 
the  N.  P.  R.  R.  to  tide  water  over  its  own  rails.  I 


Value  of  a  Banker's  "Tip"  81 

had  at  Tacoma  a  sweetheart,  Miss  Annie  Edmunds, 
a  former  visitor  to  Walla  Walla,  to  whom  I  was 
much  attached,  and  who  entertained  me  on  this  visit. 
The  celebration  was  grand,  and  in  keeping  with  the 
engineering  that  carried  the  railroad  over  the  moun 
tains.  Before  the  tunnel  through  the  lofty 
range  was  completed,  a  switchback  of  terrific  steep 
ness,  zig-zagged  back  and  forth  up  one  side  of  the 
range  and  down  the  other,  over  grades  reaching  400 
feet  rise  to  the  mile  and  requiring  two  powerful  ten 
wheeled  locomotives  to  pass  four  cars  of  freight  or 
passengers  over  the  summit.  It  was  very  fascinat 
ing  to  take  part  in  opening  that  wonderful  new  coun 
try  and  still  more  satisfactory  to  see  one's  specula 
tive  investments  increase  in  value  and  returns,  with 
the  growth  of  the  country.  I  will  here  give  credit 
to  Mr.  Levi  Ankeny,  a  banker  at  Walla 
Walla,  for  giving  me  the  advice  which  confirmed  my 
judgment,  to  buy  all  the  lands  in  the  Palouse  coun 
try  I  could  safely  carry,  of  which  he  himself  was 
buying  right  and  left  either  outright  or  through  the 
cheaper  process  of  buying  up  and  foreclosing  mort 
gages.  He  declared  it  was  the  chance  of  a  lifetime, 
so  rich  and  permanently  fertile  was  the  soil,  yet  re 
markably  cheap  in  price.  These  same  lands  that 
cost  me  $7  per  acre  are  now  worth  from  $50  to  $100 
per  acre,  and  have  been  giving  profitable  crops  with 
out  fertilization  all  these  intervening  years.  As  usual 
with  success,  it  partly  turned  my  head,  and  led  me 
later  into  excessive  and  speculative  ventures  that 
came  near  ruining  me  financially. 

A  savings  bank  was  organized  in  Walla  Walla 
about  this  time  and  I  subscribed  for  some  of  the 
stock  at  about  $80  per  share,  which  afterwards  came 
in  handy  for  quickly  raising  some  cash  for  my  trip 
around  the  world.  I  enjoyed  my  duty  at  Walla  Walla 
perhaps  as  much  as  any  station  I  ever  had,  for  sev- 


82  First  Experience  in  Society 

eral  reasons.  It  was  my  first  social  experience  in  a 
society  way,  to  amount  to  anything,  and  I  brought 
to  it  youth  and  freedom  from  care;  moreover  the 
social  set  there  was  sincerely  cordial  and  without 
affectation.  All  were  on  equality  socially,  and  no 
great  wealth  was  displayed  to  make  me  feel  humili 
ated  with  my  modest  resources.  Perhaps  most  im 
portant  of  all  was  a  growing  conviction  that  I  could 
make  good,  in  time,  and  have  a  home  and  income  of 
my  own,  which  has  always  been  my  heart's  desire. 

At  that  time  I  would  have  been  content  with  a 
modest  home  and  income  even  in  a  small  town  like 
Walla  Walla. 

I  had  scarcely  returned  from  Coeur  'd  Alene  when 
I  was  detailed  to  represent  the  regiment  at  the  "In 
fantry  and  Cavalry  School"  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  and  left  the  latter  part  of  August,  going  via 
Portland,  Oregon,  thence  by  steamer  to  San  Fran 
cisco,  and  over  the  Central  and  Union  Pacific  R.  R. 
to  Kansas.  This  was  my  first  ocean  voyage  out  of 
sight  of  land,  having  only  gone  up  and  down  Long 
Island  Sound  from  New  York  to  Worcester.  The 
trip  was  stormy  and  ocean  rough,  causing  the  steam 
er's  wooden  hull  to  groan  and  creak  most  dolefully, 
which  made  me  feel  as  though  we  were  likely  to  go 
down  any  moment  during  the  first  night  out,  but 
with  daylight  and  my  freedom  from  sea  sickness  my 
spirits  rose  and  I  did  justice  to  all  the  meals  during 
the  three  days  journey.  As  I  only  stopped  a  day  or 
two  in  San  Francisco  and  have  been  there  several 
times  since  my  first  impressions  are  now  forgotten. 
I  stopped  at  the  Palace  Hotel,  which  was  then  in  the 
zenith  of  its  glory  and  prestige,  and  somehow  gave 
a  greater  impression  of  luxury  than  I  recalled  of 
eastern  hotels,  probably  due  to  coming  to  it  from  a 
new  and  cruder  part  of  the  country. 

Sometime  before  leaving  Walla  Walla  a  class  was 


I  Study  "Art  lof  Never  Forgetting"  83 

organized  in  the  officers  families  by  Dr.  Wakeman 
for  the  study  of  "the  instantaneous  art  of  Never  For 
getting,"  by  Prof.  A.  Loisette,  which  was  then  hav 
ing  a  great  run  in  colleges  schools  and  cities  all  over 
the  country. 

It  is  the  only  system  I  know  that  is  founded  on 
the  laws  of  natural  memory,  and  does  certainly  re 
ward  practice  in  it,  and  I  know  of  nothing  more  val 
uable  to  help  a  student  than  a  thorough  study  of 
this  system.  I  earnestly  desire  that  my  copy,  in 
six  small  booklets,  may  safely  reach  my  boy's  hands 
and  he  be  coached  thoroughly  in  it,  before  going  to 
college,  for  I  know  it  will  make  his  studies  far  easier 
and  his  memory  of  them  very  much  stronger. 

I  have  reviewed  this  wonderful  memory  system 
at  intervals  of  some  years,  with  a  friend  or  friends* 
co-operation  and  have  found  it  to  not  only  freshen 
my  memory,  but  also  to  enormously  revive  my  inter 
est  in  old  and  new  studies,  besides  being  very  pleas 
ant  mental  exercises  in  themselves.  Everyone  who 
has  taken  it  up  with  me  has  enjoyed  it  and  profited 
by  it  in  increased  mental  clearness  and  power.  The 
author  was  a  talented  Englishman  who  discovered 
the  principles  of  memory  training  by  accident,  and 
worked  them  out  for  detailed  application  to  any  form 
of  study,  even  such  abstruce  ones  as  music,  whist, 
numerals,  dates,  etc.,  so  that  one  could  even  learn 
all  the  names  in  the  city  directory,  if  he  chose  to 
try.  I  have  gone  into  this  at  such  length  in  the 
hope  that  it  will  interest  my  son  as  well  as  other 
readers,  and  lead  him  and  them  to  take  this  course 
and  give  it  a  a  full,  good  trial,  just  as  laid  down  in  the 
books  themselves  and  I  know  they  will  thank  me 
later  on. 

Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

To  supply  instruction  to  officers  appointed  from 


84  Duty  at  Fort  Leavenworth  School 

civil  life  and  from  the  ranks,  the  "Infantry  and  Cav 
alry  school  of  Application"  was  organized  three  or 
four  years  before  my  coming  and  had  reached  a 
fairly  efficient  stage.  The  students,  one  from  each 
infantry  and  cavalry  regiment  for  whom  the  course 
was  designed  had  either  mostly  passed  through  or 
evaded  being  sent,  so  that  quite  a  number  of  regi 
ments  were  represented  by  West  Point  graduates, 
like  myself,  for  whom  the  studies  prescribed  were 
almost  child's  play.  While  keeping  up  in  the  class 
work  enough  to  do  credit  to  my  regiment,  I  yet  found 
it  so  easy  as  to  give  me  abundant  time  for  recreation 
and  enjoyment  of  the  social  life  available  in  this 
large  military  post  and  the  prosperous  towns  of 
Leavenworth  and  Kansas  City.  I  had  quarters  of  two 
rooms  in  a  bachelor  building  called  "Hancock  Hall," 
holding  eight  or  ten  officers,  all  lieutenants. 

I  was  attached  to  Captain  Rafferty's  troop,, 
6th  Cavalry  for  duty  with  three  or  four  other  lieu 
tenants,  giving  me  the  use  of  the  troop  stables  for 
my  horses.  I  bought  a  good  driving  horse  and  a 
handsome  buggy  to  drive  my  lady  friends  about  the 
country,  and  was  thus  able  to  repay  some  of  the 
many  social  favors  of  which  the  city  families  were 
lavish,  particularly  to  eligible  bachelors.  The  two 
years  passed  very  pleasantly  in  a  round  of  gayeties 
and  mild  studies. 

One  summer  we  marched  overland  to  Topeka,  or 
ganized  as  a  brigade,  with  infantry,  cavalry  and  ar 
tillery,  gave  a  sham  battle  at  the  G.  A.  R.  encamp 
ment  and  returned.  Another  jaunt  that  I  remember 
pleasantly  was  on  the  private  car  of  the  railroad 
paymaster  for  the  M.  K.  and  T.  R.  R.  whose  pay  trip 
took  us  through  Kansas,  Indian  Territory  and  Texas. 
This  was  my  first  trip  on  a  private  car  and  gave  me 
a  new  glimpse  of  luxury  and  a  new  stimulus  to 
strive  for  financial  independence. 


Pleasant  Social  Privileges  85 

A  new  social  circle  and  set  of  people  opened  to  me 
on  going  to  Leavenworth  and  the  hospitality  and  en 
tertaining  shown  my  class  in  the  school,  put  us  un 
der  obligations  to  return  them  by  attention  to  the 
young  people  of  the  families  concerned,  both  in  fort 
and  city.  I  enjoyed  these  features  of  my  life  there, 
and  word  of  my  devotion  to  new  lady  friends  got  in 
some  way  to  my  Tacoma  sweetheart,  and  finally  led 
to  coldness  on  both  sides,  without  serious  conse 
quence  to  either.  So  many  girls  was  nice  to  us, 
that  to  complete  our  studies  without  giving  too  much 
time  to  any  one  of  them,  a  sort  of  bachelor's  pro 
tective  association  was  formed  and  worked  out  well, 
and  only  one  or  two  married  at  Leavenworth.  Safety 
in  numbers  was  perhaps  why  I  did  not  marry,  for 
there  were  many  who  would  have  made  me  a  good 
wife  and  two  or  three  for  whom  I  felt  very  warm  af 
fection  and  recall  with  pleasant  memories  their  ex 
cellent  qualities. 

The  course  of  study  completed,  I  graduated  with 
creditable  standing  and  returned  to  duty  with  my 
original  troop,  "F,"  Second  Regiment  of  Cavalry, 
which  had  meanwhile  been  transferred  from 
Fort  Walla  Walla  to  Vancouver  Barracks,  Wash., 
just  across  the  Columbia  river  from  Portland,  Ore. 
On  my  way  back  I  passed  through  Walla  Walla 
and  by  comparison  with  the  Mississippi  valley,  found 
the  former  less  attractive  than  on  coming  to  it 
from  Montana,  and  decided  that  if  I  got  independent 
enough  financially  to  leave  the  army  ,1  would  give 
preference  to  Tocoma.  The  leave  of  absence  after 
graduation  from  Fort  Leavenworth  school  gave  me 
time  to  visit  the  beach  resorts  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river,  where  I  met  pleasant  people  from 
Portland,  and  anticipated  new  joys  in  the  social  life 
of  that  city  the  following  winter.  I  reported  at  Van 
couver  Barracks  just  in  time  to  prepare  for  a  trip 


86  Field  Trip  With  Gen.  Gibbon 

by  my  captain's  troop  as  escort  to  General  Gibbon, 
up  the  Columbia  river  by  steamer  to  The  Dalles, 
thence  north  across  country  to  lake  Chelan,  Wash., 
to  have  a  parley  with  Chief  Moses  about  the  return 
of  the  Nez  Perce  Indians  to  their  reservation  in 
Idaho.  We  camped  for  several  weeks  at  the  foot  of 
the  beautiful  lake  Chelan,  which  lies  in  the  Cas 
cade  Mountains,  and  is  fed  by  melting  snow,  filled 
with  gamey  trout  and  surrounded  by  towering  snow 
capped  mountains.  A  small  town  called  Chelan  was 
just  being  opened  as  a  government  townsite  and  I 
filed  on  a  couple  of  lots,  built  a  little  one-room  shack 
on  them  and  became  for  the  first  time  a  house-own 
er.  The  little  town  prospered  with  the  opening  of 
mines  around  the  lake,  and  in  1903,  fourteen  years 
later,  I  sold  my  lots  at  a  good  profit. 

The  parley  and  outing  finished,  we  returned  to 
Vancouver  Barracks,  but  had  not  settled  into  quart 
ers,  when  my  troop  was  ordered  to  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  Kan.,  with  horses  and  equipment. 

I  was  still  living  in  my  field  outfit,  not  having 
unpacked  my  furniture,  shipped  from  Leavenworth. 
This  change  of  the  troop's  station  was  made  in  a 
"troop  train,"  composed  of  stock,  freight  and  pas 
senger  cars,  and  ran  on  independent  schedule  each 
day,  stopping  over  night  to  unload,  feed  and  exercise 
the  horses,  as  required  by  law.  To  save  money  for 
the  government  the  train  was  sent  in  a  round  about 
way,  south  through  Oregon  to  Marysville,  Cal., 
thence  east  to  Denver,  via  U.  P.  R.  R.  and  on  to 
Kansas  over  land  grant  roads  under  obligation  to 
transport  U.  S.  troops  free.  A  three  day's  trip  di 
rect  became  for  us  a  three  week's  trip  indirect,  but 
passed  off  very  pleasantly  for  me,  in  the  company 
of  the  families  of  the  captain  and  lieutenant,  who 
joined  forces  to  provide  our  meals,  with  the  help  of 
the  troop  cook.  I  was  quarter-master  for  the  trip, 


Promotion.    Leave  of  Absence  87 

arranged  our  daily  schedule  with  the  railroad  offi 
cials,  bought  forage  and  arranged  stopping  places 
for  each  nights'  rest  of  the  stock.  This  was  good 
training  for  me,  and  helped  me  when  I  became  Q.  M. 
of  a  regiment  and  a  brigade  later  on.  I  was  welcom 
ed  and  made  very  happy  by  my  Leavenworth  friends, 
and  had  another  year  there  before  my  promotion  to 
first  lieutenant,  October,  1890,  took  me  to  another 
troop  of  the  regiment  at  Fort  Huachuca,  Arizona. 

Meanwhile  circumstances  favored  my  getting  a  long 
leave,  owing  to  my  having  taken  little  of  the  annual 
month's  leave  on  full  pay  customarily  allowed  to  of 
ficers.  The  prospect  of  going  out  to  be  lost  in  the 
wilds  of  Arizona  for  a  stretch  of  years  and  a  feeling 
of  satiation  or  surfeit  of  military  life  and  sur 
roundings  ;  made  a  leave  quite  welcome  while  an  in 
vitation  to  visit  my  brother  in  Switzerland  drew  my 
thoughts  to  a  long  trip  abroad.  I  went  east  via 
Washington,  D.  C.,  where  I  arranged  for  approval 
of  a  trip  abroad  in  case  I  should  go,  then  went  on  to 
Worcester. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Around  the  World,  1890-91. 

At  Worcester  I  met  some  friends  who  were  plan 
ning  a  trip  around  the  world  and  urged  me  to  join 
them.  The  cost  was  reasonable,  the  "prospectus," 
as  set  out  by  the  Canadian  Pacific  R.  R.  was  tempt 
ing,  the  time  limit  favorable  and  the  party  prom 
ised  to  be  congenial. 

How  to  finance  my  trip  quickly  was  the 
question,  for  my  funds  were  tied  up  in  im 
proving  the  lands  in  Washington  Territory, 
across  the  continent.  My  Walla  Walla  savings 
bank  stock  solved  the  problem.  I  wired  the  bank 
and  got  a  bid  which  netted  me  10  per  cent  on  my 
purchase  price,  and  accepted  the  offer. 

I  secured  permission  to  go  abroad,  got  my  leave 
extended,  procured  a  passport  from  the  State  De 
partment,  received  a  letter  of  introduction  to  our 
consular  and  diplomatic  representatives  abroad 
from  my  uncle  Theodore's  friend,  Senator 
George  Frisbee  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  equip 
ped  myself  partly  for  the  trip,  and  started  on  the 
most  enjoyable  venture  of  my  life.  Plan 
ned  by  the  Canadian  Pacific  R.  R.  to  put  their  line 
of  Pacific  ocean  steamships  on  their  run  from  Hong 
Kong  to  Vancouver,  B.  C.,  at  the  least  expense  to 
the  company,  this  around-the-world  excursion  be 
gan  at  points  in  Canada,  the  United  States  or  Eng 
land,  with  tickets  to  Liverpool,  from  which  point 
three  successive  steamers,  "Empress  of  India," 
"China,"  and  "Japan"  were  to  sail  at  intervals  of  a 


Among  People  Who  Amuse  Themselves  89 

month  via  Mediterranean,  Suez  Canal,  Indian  ocean, 
China  sea  and  Pacific,  and  deliver  their  passengers 
to  the  railroad  company's  western  terminal  at  Van 
couver  for  transportation  to  their  starting  points.  I 
secured  a  first-class  ticket  via  "White  Star"  line 
from  New  York  to  Liverpool  and  booked  for  the  sail 
ing  of  the  monster  Teutonic"  early  in  December,  but 
before  starting  word  came  of  a  postponed  sailing 
date  for  our  S.  S.  out  of  Liverpool  and  I  returned  to 
Worcester  to  spend  Christmas  with  my  folks,  and 
got  my  ocean  ticket  assigned  to  a  later  sailing 
steamer,  "The  Germanic,"  older  and  slower  than  the 
"Teutonic,"  but  very  comfortable  in  the  bad  weather 
of  our  trip,  taken  in  mid-winter. 

I  met  people  who  belonged  to  the  strange  class,  to 
me,  of  those  who  had  only  to  amuse  themselves.  All 
were  first-class  passengers  on  the  "Empress  of  In 
dia,"  and  came  from  the  United  States,  Canada, 
Great  Britain  and  the  continent  of  Europe.  It  was 
a  revelation  to  me,  and  in  connection  with  the 
broadening  influence  of  the  trip  itself  completed  a 
liberal  education,  and  put  new  zest  into  a  life  which 
was  beginning  to  oppress  me  with  a  feeling  of  ennui. 
In  a  moderate  way  having  already  acquired  what 
most  men  spend  their  lives  in  striving  for,  this  dis 
covery  of  new  ways  of  making  life  pleasant  seemed 
like  a  glimpse  into  a  new  world,  and  gave  me  a  liv 
ing  interest  in  the  various  countries  visited  that  1 
had  never  felt  before. 

Armed  with  a  good  No.  2  kodak  which  held  one 
hundred  films,  I  secured  many  hundreds  of  photos 
of  scenes  en  route,  to  which  I  added  a  large  number 
of  unmounted  locally  taken  photographs  purchased 
when  bad  weather  interfered  or  some  choice  build 
ing  or  scenery  was  pictured.  All  combined  to  give 
me  a  splendid  album  of  unmounted  views  to  recall 
my  trip,  and  which  I  prize  very  highly.  Crossing  the 


90  England  and  France  in  Winter 

the  Atlantic  was  rather  dangerous  from  having  no 
sunshine  the  last  four  days,  while  being  tossed  by  a 
fierce  gale,  that  prevented  our  making  mail  connec 
tion  at  Queenstown,  after  laying  to  the  night  before 
till  a  lighthouse  expected  was  picked  up,  just  in 
time  to  prevent  our  driving  headlong  on  the  south 
coast  of  Ireland.  Liverpool  and  London,  with  the 
intervening  country,  was  about  all  I  saw  of  the 
"Tight  Little  Isle,"  but  London  and  its  environs,  ful 
ly  occupied  our  brief  stay  there.  Windsor  Castle, 
with  its  royalty,  struck  a  new  note  for  me. 

Quite  a  number  of  our  excursionists  were  on  the 
Germanic,  and  we  soon  formed  a  sort  of  family  party 
which  gave  me  company  on  all  sight-seeing  trips. 

I  stopped  at  the  Metropole  Hotel  in  London  and 
found  it  convenient  and  central,  but  the  winter  sea 
son  was  not  so  attractive  for  tourists  as  for  social 
seekers,  being  unusually  raw  and  cold. 

The  delayed  sailing  date  of  our  steamer  gave  us 
several  weeks  extra  time,  which  I  put  in  on  the  con 
tinent.  After  easing  my  conscience  by  going  to  see 
the  regular  sights  like  the  Tower  of  London,  Hyde 
Park,  the  Art  Galleries,  British  Museum,  etc.,  I  was 
rather  glad  to  escape  from  the  damp,  cold  and  fog, 
of  which  we  had  two  days  of  almost  night,  and  get 
over  to  the  cheerful  sunniness  of  Paris. 

Crossing  the  English  channel  was  hard  on  most 
of  the  passengers,  but  my  Atlantic  trip  prepared  me 
to  get  across  without  discomfort.  The  change  to 
France  was  my  first  foreign  experience,  and  made 
me  glad  I  knew  something  of  the  language,  having 
followed  my  French  course  at  West  Point  by  fur 
ther  study  and  reading  in  social  classes  everywhere 
I  could  join  them.  Paris  found  me  with  a 
cold  brought  over  from  England  which  grew 
worse  so  fast  that  after  doing  Paris  in  general, 
I  had  to  cut  my  stay  short  and  rush  on  to  my  broth- 


Glimpse  of  German  Military  Life  91 

er,  who  was  practicing  as  an  American  dentist  in 
Basel,  Switzerland.  I  saw  enough  of  France  to  feel 
that  it  would  be  good  to  live  there  if  one  had  inde 
pendent  means,  but  not  otherwise,  so  great  is  the 
struggle  to  make  a  living  in  Europe.  At  Basel  a 
Turkish  bath  soon  broke  up  my  cold  and  my  brother 
took  me  on  a  jaunt  to  Carlsruhe,  where  we  were 
guests  of  Countess  von  Bohlen  and  her  three  sons, 
who  were  officers  of  the  German  army  and  intro 
duced  me  to  the  garrison  life  of  their  regiments.  . 

Brother  and  I  were  guests  at  a  "regimental  mess" 
dinner  and  were  honored  by  the  band  playing  the 
American  National  airs,  etc.,  and  the  colonel  presid 
ing  offered  a  toast  to  America,  to  which  I  had  to  re 
spond.  I  saw  a  review  thefe  of  several  thousand 
men  in  honor  of  the  Emperor's  birthday,  which  was 
the  largest  body  of  soldiers  I  had  seen  up  to  that 
time.  The  German  officers  made  my  stay  pleasant 
and  felt  envious  of  the  greater  liberty  American  of 
ficers  enjoyed  in  family  life  and  more  liberal  pay, 
they  being  compelled  to  have  a  definite  outside  in 
come  before  getting  married,  and  their  pay  being 
relatively  much  smaller,  only  partly  meeting  their 
bachelor  needs.  We  heard  Grand  Opera  by  a  splen 
did  stock  company  in  Carlsruhe  and  between  acts 
were  introduced  in  the  foyer  of  the  theater  to  many 
of  the  leading  citizens  by  our  officer  friends. 

Returning  to  Basel  I  secured  an  extension  of  my 
leave  by  cable  from  Washington  and  started  for  Italy 
with  letters  of  introduction  to  friends  of  my  broth 
er,  at  Milan,  Venice,  Florence,  Rome  and  Naples.  At 
all  these  points  in  Italy  I  enjoyed  the  usual  sight 
seeing  all  the  more  from  being  with  friends.  At  Mi 
lan  I  saw  my  first  "Carnival"  and  it  seemed  as 
though  the  citizens  would  go  crazy  with  ex 
citement  and  abandon  to  gayety.  Venice  was  unique 
of  course,  but  rather  cold  and  deserted  by  visitors. 


92  Through  Italy  to  Egypt 

Florence,  with  its  art  galleries  and  picturesque  sur 
roundings,  as  well  as  fine  climate  and  large  American 
colony,  pleased  me  most  as  a  residence  in  case  I  were 
to  live  abroad.  Rome  and  Naples  are  so  well  known 
and  much  described  that  I  need  not  dwell  on  them 
more  than  to  say  that  both  surpassed  my  expecta 
tions.  At  Naples  I  joined  the  "Empress  of  India" 
and  became  one  of  the  now  completed  party  which 
was  to  share  in  the  feast  of  travel  for  the  next  few 
months  under  unusually  favorable  circumstances. 

On  the  voyage  from  Naples  to  Port  Said  we  pass 
ed  between  Sicily  and  the  toe  of  Italy  and  saw  in 
the  distance  the  smoke  of  Mt.  Aetna,  which  for  so 
many  centuries  has  been  a  land  mark  for  sailors. 

Then  bearing  eastward  we  crossed  the  mouth  of 
the  Adriatic  and  were  greeted  with  a  storm  from 
the  Alps,  which  blew  furiously  on  our  beam  for 
nearly  twenty-four  hours,  causing  great  damage  to 
other  ships,  and  breaking  our  star  board  gangway 
ladder  and  rail,  making  everybody  very  uncomforta 
ble  by  the  combined  rolling  and  pitching,  but  I  did 
not  miss  any  meals.  On  reaching  Port  Said  we  found 
several  ships  damaged  in  the  same  storm.  At  Port 
Said,  canal  tenders  took  us  up  the  canal  to  Ismalia, 
thence  we  went  by  rail  to  Cairo.  While  doing  the 
sights,  climbing  the  pyramids,  etc.,  our  stay  was 
marked  by  a  rainstorm,  the  first  for  several  years 
in  that  absolute  desert  country.  Egypt  reminded  me 
of  our  arid  zone  in  the  west,  but  the  Nile  redeems  it 
beautifully. 

The  winter  season  was  on,  and  Cairo  was  full  of 
tourists  from  all  over  the  world,  enjoying  her  genial 
winter  climate  and  we  would  have  liked  to  prolong 
our  stay,  but  the  future  sights  beckoned  us  on,  and 
the  "Empress"  would  not  delay,  having  coaled  and 
cleaned  up  for  the  voyage  across  the  Arabian  Sea 
to  Ceylon.  Again  on  board  we  steamed  Southeast 


From   Egypt   to   Singapore  93 

through  the  historic  Red  Sea,  then  east  through  the 
Gulf  of  Aden  and  on  across  the  Arabian  Sea  for  12 
days  without  stopping.  This  winter  season  was  ideal 
on  those  waters,  for  we  had  the  northeast  "Mon 
soon"  from  India,  gentle  and  fragrant  all  the  way 
across.  This  vast  stretch  of  water  was  as  placid  as 
a  mill  pond,  merely  ruffled  by  the  mild  breezes  and 
we  required  ventilator  scoops  in  the  port  holes  to 
make  our  state-rooms  comfortable.  We  had  music 
and  dancing  on  deck  at  night  and  played  games  and 
read  books  from  our  ships  library  to  our  hearts  con 
tent. 

Ceylon  is  a  gem  of  beauty,  one  of  the  few  tropical 
islands  out  of  the  path  of  hurricanes  and  cyclones 
so  it  has  no  storm  ruins  and  is  kept  in  exquisite  or 
der  by  the  high  cultivation  it  gets  now  by  tea  cul 
ture  as  it  formerly  did  from  coffee  growing  which 
was  ruined  by  smut.  Everything  about  the  island 
is  full  of  interest  historically,  and  it  has  a  health  re 
sort  on  top  of  the  mountain  three  or  four  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  where  the  broken- 
down  tropical  dweller  can  pick  up  without  going  back 
to  Europe.  A  splendid  botanical  garden  is  maintain 
ed  at  Colombo,  with  tropical  and  semi-tropical  plants 
from  all  over  the  world.  Of  course  everybody  went 
ashore  and  took  the  trip  up  the  mountain  to  Kandy 
and  the  mountain  top  sanitarium.  I  met  some  tea- 
planters  and  learned  the  history  of  tea-growing.  Cul 
tivation  and  tea  picking  are  done  by  gangs  of  labor 
ers  from  India  who  return  there  after  the  tea  crop 
is  made.  Again  we  left  with  regret,  to  take  the  ten 
day's  journey  across  the  Bay  of  Bengal  S.  E.  to 
Pennang  Island,  stopping  there  at  Georgetown  one 
day,  then  on  to  Singapore,  center  of  Asiatic  com 
merce,  always  full  of  ships  from  the  fourquarters  of 
the  globe,  to  exchange  cargoes.  Ultra  tropical,  only 
a  few  miles  north  of  the  equator,  it  is  a  typical  trop- 


94  Hong  Kong  and  Canton 

ical  port,  hot,  moist,  enervating.  Several  of  us  went 
across  the  island  ("same  name")  and  crossed  to  the 
main  land  into  the  territory  of  the  Sultan  of  Johore. 
His  capital  is  the  center  of  teakwood  trade,  and  his 
"Commissioner  of  Forestry"  was  a  Scotchman, 
whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  an  American  mission 
ary.  He  entertained  two  of  us,  showed  us  the  teak 
mills  and  the  palace  of  the  Sultan,  then  absent  in 
Paris.  It  was  all  very  barbaric  and  showy,  but  I 
was  glad  to  get  back  on  shipboard.  It  was  a  relief  to 
turn  north  toward  China,  and  we  sailed  through  the 
China  Sea  to  Hong  Kong  with  pleasant  weather  all 
the  way. 

Hong  Kong  is  to  the  east  coast  of  Asia  what  Sin 
gapore  is  to  the  south — a  vast,  free,  trading  and  ex 
change  port.  It  is  tropical  in  climate  but  has  a  tem 
perate  zone  on  top  of  the  mountain,  where  wealthy 
people  have  their  residences.  Ships  of  all  nations 
fill  the  harbors  of  Singapore  and  Hong  Kong.  One 
drawback  is  the  typhoon,  a  cyclonic  storm  affecting 
East  Cnina  coast  and  Japanese  waters.  This  section 
is  most  densely  populated  of  any  part  of  the  world, 
and  Hong  Kong  is  its  commercial  center.  A  former 
Hudson  river  steamboat  took  a  party  of  us  on  a 
side-trip  to  Canton,  about  eighty  miles  up  the  Pearl 
river,  where  two  great  inland  waterways  unite 
and  it  is  said  Canton  and  its  suburbs  hold 
the  greatest  population,  for  the  area  covered, 
of  any  spot  in  the  world.  The  missionaries 
furnished  splendid  English-speaking  native  guides, 
and  the  sightseeing  trips  we  took  were  very 
enjoyable.  We  were  carried  in  sedan  chairs  by 
coolies,  through  the  narrow  streets,  that  will  not 
permit  coaches  or  wagons.  Labor  is  so  cheap  that 
little  power  is  used  other  than  manual  labor,  and 
most  trades  keep  to  the  conditions  of  hundreds  of 
years  ago.  All  was  very  simple,  primitive  and  in- 


North  China  and  Japan  95 


teresting;  in  particular  the  house-boats  on  the  wa 
ter  where  many  thousands  live  on  boats  of  all  kinds 
and  classes.  Here  one  could  feel  the  pulsing  heart 
of  China.  Returning  to  Hong  Kong  we  found  the 
Empress  of  India  repainted,  loaded  with  a  light  car 
go,  mostly  silks  and  tea,  ready  to  take  us  on  to 
Shanghai,  across  the  famous  Yellow  Sea  whose  wa 
ters  are  discolored  by  the  mud  of  the  Yang  Ste 
Kiang,  carrying  great  volumes  of  yellow  clay  in  sus 
pension.  Looking  out  the  port  hole  one  would  think 
himself  on  a  Mississippi  river  steamer  at  St.  Louis, 
so  alike  the  two  muddy  waters  in  color. 

Outside  of  the  "Foreign  quarter,"  which  is  mod 
ern;  Shanghai  is  a  replica  of  Canton  and  offers  lit 
tle  novelty  to  the  tourists.  Here  we  took  on  the  last 
batch  of  China  mail  which  the  Canadian  Pacific  Co. 
was  trying  to  deliver  in  London  more  quickly  than 
the  "Peninsular  and  Oriental  Co."  had  been  doing 
via  Europe.  It  was  a  contest  for  the  China  mail  con 
tract  from  Hong  Kong,  and  every  moment  after  leav 
ing  there,  was  utilized  to  make  speed,  so  our  stay  in 
Shanghai  was  short.  We  drove  east  across  the  Yel 
low  Sea  to  Nagasaki  for  coal  to  cross  the  Pacific. 
Nagasaki  twenty-five  years  ago  was  the  coal  supply 
station  of  the  East,  and  our  vessel  having  to  go  there 
gave  us  more  of  Japan  than  usual  for  ships  from 
Hong  Kong  eastbound  across  the  Pacific.  We  went 
through  the  wonderfully  beautiful  and  picturesque 
"Inland  Sea,"  with  rich  gardens  of  cultivated  land 
in  plain  sight  near  either  side  of  our  ship,  on  our 
way  to  Kobe  and  Yokohama.  At  Nagasaki,  I  with 
my  state-room  mate,  Dr.  Fisher,  of  Montreal,  took 
a  two-man  "rickasha"  on  a  sidetrip  to  Mogi,  over  the 
well-kept  mountain  road  to  the  east  coast.  Mogi  is 
famous  for  its  tortoise  shell  products  and  charm  to 
tourists.  On  this  trip  we  saw  pack  horses  with  grass 
foot  pads  for  horseshoes,  and  I  was  able  to  get  a 


96  More  Japan 


kodak  snap-shot  of  one.  We  first  met  the  "Gin- 
rickasha"  in  Ceylon,  but  they  reached  their  utmost 
perfection  in  Japan,  perhaps  by  virtue  of  the  sturdy 
and  tireless  Japanese  who  worked  them,  and  who 
generally  knew  some  English.  Japan  was  a  delight 
to  me  from  start  to  finish  in  every  way,  and  would 
take  a  book  for  itself  alone  to  record  all  the  sights 
and  impressions  I  enjoyed  on  this  and  my  later  trip 
twelve  years  afterward.  At  Kobe  we  made  a  side- 
trip  to  Osaka,  called  the  Birmingham  of  Japan,  being 
a  great  manufacturing  center  of  Japanese  goods 
and  clever  imitator  of  European  and  American  ar 
ticles  to  sell  to  their  own  people.  Kobe  is  their  ship 
ping  point.  Yokohama  is  the  principal  port  of  Ja 
pan,  one  of  the  first  opened  to  foreigners — who 
are  given  large  spaces  for  business  and  residence 
blocks — and  is  a  large  and  thriving  -city,  exporting 
enormous  quantities  of  their  peculiar  products.  A 
side  trip  to  the  capital,  Tokio,  was  my  last  varia 
tion  from  the  routine  programme  and  was  extra 
novel  by  getting  into  the  heart  of  the  country  and 
away  from  the  European  element.  Accidentally  I 
met  a  Japanese  naval  officer  who  had  graduated 
from  our  U.  S.  naval  academy  at  Annapolis,  who 
helped  me  out  of  a  difficulty  in  directing  my  rick 
sha  man,  and  volunteered  to  go  out  of  his  way  to 
show  me.  He  was  enthusiastic  over  America  and  I 
over  his  country,  and  our  acquaintance  mutually 
agreeable.  His  name  was  Urine,  and  I  think  he  now 
ranks  high  in  his  country's  navy. 

Nearly  all  our  party  regretted  to  leave  Japan, 
but  we  were  now  on  schedule  and  every  moment 
counted,  as  we  pushed  east  across  the  Pacific,  fol 
lowing  the  shortest  line  on  a  great  circle  which  took 
us  far  to  the  north  and  gave  us  the  benefit  of 
the  Japan  current.  We  had  not  yet  escaped  all  per 
ils  of  the  sea,  for  when  about  half  way  across  we  ran 


Drving  Through  a  "Typhoon"  97 

into  a  'Typhoon,"  and  to  avoid  losing  two  days  going 
around  it,  with  a  possible  loss  of  the  mail  contract, 
so  much  coveted,  the  ship's  officers  decided  to  drive 
straight  through  the  500  miles  of  raging  waters 
ahead  of  us.  We  nearly  went  on  our  beam  ends  af 
ter  entering  the  storm  area,  by  taking  the  trough  of 
the  monster  waves.  At  dinner  one  night  about  sun 
down,  when  the  rolling  became  so  violent  that  food 
and  dishes  from  the  tables  were  mingled  in  one  con 
fused  heap  with  the  passengers,  thrown  from  their 
seats  to  the  lower  side  of  the  dining  saloon.  For  a 
few  awful  moments,  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  going 
to  turn  turtle,  but  the  ship's  course  being  instantly 
changed,  she  righted  herself  slowly  and  a  disaster 
was  averted.  But  such  monstrous  seas  as  we  met 
the  next  few  days !  Mountains  high  they  seemed  to 
us,  and  the  calm  found  at  the  storm  center — owing 
to  low  barometer — gave  one  the  feeling  of  deadly 
peril,  but  we  pulled  safely  through  with  a  few  acci 
dents,  to  the  end  of  our  voyage  at  Vancouver,  B. 
C.  Special  trains  were  waiting  to  whirl  us  across 
Canada  at  top  speed  with  the  precious  "China 
Mail,"  to  be  delivered  in  New  York  en  route  for  Lon 
don,  by  fast  steamer  waiting. 

Across  the  Dominion  of  Canada  in  early  May, 
1891.  Mild  weather  had  melted  the  snow  and  soft 
ened  the  roadbed,  making  it  dangerous  for  high 
speed,  but  President  Van  Horn  of  the  C.  P.  R. 
was  there  on  his  private  car  to  "personally  con 
duct"  this  important  excursion  at  the  highest  speed 
practicable  with  safety,  to  try  to  win  the  mail  con 
tract.  So  it  was  drive  and  rush  with  rocking  cars 
and  jolted  passengers  that  we  raced  across  the  west 
ern  continent  against  time,  now  stopping  for  a 
landslide  to  be  cleared  away,  and  again  sliding  cau 
tiously  through  an  avalanche  of  snow  and  fallen  pine 
trees,  that  had  been  sawed  out  of  the  track. 


98  Through  Canada  to  Arizona 

From  moment  to  moment  day  and  night  the 
lurching,  swaying,  rush  kept  up,  giving  one  the  sense 
of  great  risk.  Every  town  celebrated  our  passing.  It 
was  a  continued  ovation  for  President  Van  Horn  and 
an  astonishing  revelation  to  us,  of  the  progress  of 
Western  Canada,  due  to  the  Railroad.  At  Winnipeg 
my  leave  was  so  nearly  out  that  I  had  to  relinquish 
the  rest  of  my  passage  to  New  York  and  take  a  short 
cut  to  Arizona  to  report  for  duty  with  my  new  troop, 
as  first  lieutenant.  I  went  via  Leavenworth,  which 
I  had  left  seven  or  eight  months  before,  and  had  a 
few  hours  visit  with  my  friends ;  some  of  whom  had 
been  good  correspondents  during  my  entire  trip, 
greeting  me  at  various  points  on  my  journey  with 
pleasant  news  from  the  town  which  had  been  like  a 
home  for  me  during  three  happy  years.  Some  un 
expected  delay  intervened  en  route  which  finally 
brought  me  to  Fort  Huachuca  one  day  beyond  my 
leave,  much  to  my  chagrin,  but  very  kindly  allowed 
for  by  the  war  department.  Undertaken  at  my  own 
expense,  at  a  time  when  I  could  readily  be  spared  and 
with  a  view  to  broadening  my  mind  and  experience, 
it  was  considered  good  policy  to  extend  the  privilege 
of  foreign  travel  to  the  younger  officers  of  the  ser 
vice.  So  ended  my  trip  around  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Arizona. 

In  May  of  1891  Arizona  had  emerged  from  the 
"days  of  the  empire,"  when  military  stations  were 
hard  to  reach,  and  still  harder  to  get  away  from,  ex 
cept  to  go  into  the  field  after  Indians  or  renegades. 
The  S.  P.  and  Santa  Fe  railroads  had  done  away  with 
the  stage  coach  and  freight  caravan  a  few  years  be 
fore,  and  taken  from  the  post  commanders  much  of 
their  independence  and  autocratic  power.  Six  thous 
and  feet  altitude  gave  Fort  Huachuca,  near  the 
southern  Arizona  line,  a  marvelously  fine  healthy  cli 
mate,  dry,  stimulating  and  enjoyable.  I  had  scarcely 
gotten  settled  in  bachelor  quarters  and  learned  the 
country  immediately  around  me,  when  I  was  de 
tailed  to  take  charge  of  transferring  the  remains  of 
persons  buried  in  the  military  cemetery  at  Fort  Low 
ell,  recently  abandoned  (near  Tucson,  Arizona),  to 
the  military  cemetery  at  San  Francisco.  This  com 
pelled  me  to  live  several  weeks  in  the  hottest  part 
of  the  year  in  one  of  the  hottest  towns  in  the  state, 
then  a  territory  just  beginning  to  be  modernized  by 
irrigation.  A  new  canal  system  had  just  been  open 
ed  from  Florence  on  the  Gila  river,  to  Casa  Grande 
on  the  S.  P.  R.  R.  and  I  took  the  opportunity  to  inves 
tigate  a  chance  to  take  up  government ,  land  under 
this  canal.  It  looked  so  good  to  me  that  I  not  only 
made  entry  myself  of  320  acres  under  the  desert 
land  act,  but  also  induced  my  brother  and  father  to 
make  similar  entries.  I  also  visited  Phoenix  where 
irrigation  had  been  used  largely  for  several  years, 


100  How  a  Fruit  Farm  Undid  Me 

and  took  an  option  on  120  acres  east  of  town,  with 
a  view  to  planting  fruit  trees  extensively,  which  I 
did  in  partnership  with  my  brother  in  the  next  three 
or  four  years.  We  were  ahead  of  the  country  in  this 
unfortunate  venture  and  sunk  a  considerable  sum 
and  lost  much  of  our  faith  in  irrigation  fruit  growing 
especially  where  done  by  proxy,  in  our  absence  as  we 
were  compelled  to  do.  After  planting  many  thous 
ands  of  trees,  including  orange,  lemon,  fig,  apricot, 
walnut,  almond,  prune  and  peach,  together  with  rais 
in  grapes,  we  found  when  they  began  to  bear — in 
car-load  lots — that  it  was  practically  impossible  to 
get  them  to  a  market  without  spoiling  from  heat 
and  slow  movement  by  freight.  No  organized  body 
of  fruit  growers  existed  and  so  little  fruit  was  grown 
then  around  Phoenix  that  the  railroad  company  was 
not  justified  in  building  an  "icing  plant"  and  furn 
ishing  refrigerator  cars  for  fruits.  The  panic  of 
1893-4  prevented  my  borrowing  money  to  meet  ex 
penses,  which  were  heavy,  and  I  turned  over  my  half 
interest  in  this  fruit  farm  to  my  brother;  who  tore 
out  the  fruit  trees  and  turned  the  land  into  alfalfa. 
Wider  experience  or  knowledge  of  fruit  growing  in 
California  would  have  kept  us  from  sinking  so  much 
money  in  so  large  a  venture  and  would  have  saved 
us  from  the  bitter  discouragement  of  seeing  our 
plans  fail,  from  prematurity. 

The  desert  land  near  Casa  Grande  was  entered 
June,  1892,  at  the  land  office  in  Tucson,  and  my  fath 
er,  brother  and  brother-in-law,  Clarence  Atwood,  en 
tered  320  acres  each,  near  to  my  320,  in  September, 
1892,  making  1,280  acres  all  practically  in  one  piece, 
which  we  planned  to  work  together.  Underlying  all 
these  pieces  is  a  free  flowing  current  of  part  of  the 
Santa  Cruz  river,  which  sinks  a  few  miles  above 
Tucson,  flows  underground  more  than  one  hundred 
miles  northwesterly  to  Maricopa  Wells  where  it  re- 


Land  Hunger  Makes  Trouble  101 

appears  as  springs,  flowing  into  the  Gila  river.  At 
Casa  Grande  the  S.  P.  R.  R.  had  a  powerful  pumping 
plant  for  supplying  engines  and  the  town,  which  has 
never  failed  of  an  abundant  supply  in  their  large 
well,  which  seems  to  be  dug  into  the  underground 
stream.  Equally  reliable  but  less  abundant  in  flow 
is  the  branch  stream  under  the  lands  we  entered 
three  miles  northeast  of  Casa  Grande.  Our  plan 
was  to  install  an  auxiliary  pumping  plant  or  plants 
to  pump  from  this  underground  supply  by  gasoline 
engines,  for  which  cheap  gasoline  from  California 
was  to  be  used,  and  if  successful  in  finding  enough 
water  we  expected  to  be  independent  of  the  canal 
and  save  the  annual  tax  for  water  when  delivered  by 
canal. 

The  canal  company  organized  from  its  members 
a  townsite  company  and  opened  up  the  town  of 
Arizola,  three  miles  east  of  Casa  Grande,  on  the  S.  P. 
R.  R.,  built  a  hotel,  induced  a  newspaper—The  Oasis— 
to  locate  there,  opened  several  stores,  secured  a 
postoffice  and  had  quite  a  nice  start  when  the  panic 
of  1893  brought  everything  to  a  standstill. 

An  accidental  fire  destroyed  the  hotel,  the  town 
site  company  went  into  bankruptcy  and  my  $1,100 
worth  of  paid  up  stock  in  the  company  became  a  to 
tal  loss.  Meanwhile  the  temporary  diversion  dam, 
to  turn  water  into  the  canal  from  the  Gila  river, 
was  carried  away  by  floods  and  the  much  needed 
water  failed  in  part  and  discouraged  everyone.  The 
Canal  Company  went  broke  and  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  receiver,  who  put  in  another  temporary 
dam,  but  the  absence  of  more  colonists  to  purchase 
water  rights  and  to  pay  for  annual  water  left  the 
receiver  in  trouble  to  keep  the  canal  open.  I  held 
onto  my  320  acres  but  the  others  abandoned  their 
entries  and  I  in  self  defense,  had  to  purchase  water 
rights  to  get  title.  These,  with  other  expenses  of 


102  Improving  Desert  Land  Under  Difficulties 

proving  up,  fencing,  clearing  sage  brush,  digging 
well,  etc.,  together  with  final  payment  to  the  U.  S. 
for  the  land  and  taxes  since  title  came  to  me  in  1897, 
made  my  total  outlay  there  run  over  $8,000.  If  the 
government  puts  in  an  irrigation  reservoir  on  the 
Gila  river  ,  as  now  almost  assured,  the  project  will 
yet  repay  all  and  be  a  good  investment.  This  is  a 
matter  which  my  son  will  have  a  chance  to  work  out, 
as  the  reservoir  will  be  built  or  abandoned  by  the 
time  he  gets  through  college.  Well-managed  it  will 
give  a  comfortable  independence  to  its  owner,  and  a 
development  fund  has  been  put  in  trust  by  me  to  pro 
tect  the  property  in  case  I  cannot  look  after  it  in 
person,  for  the  soil  is  rich  and  deep,  slopes  nicely  for 
irrigation,  is  adapted  to  early  fruits  and  vegetables, 
or  stock  feeding  by  growing  alfalfa,  and  is  so  near 
the  railroad  it  can  be  sub-divided  and  sold  in  small 
farms  at  a  good  profit. 

My  duty  at  Fort  Lowell  ending  in  July, 
1891,  I  returned  to  Fort  Huachuca  for  garrison  and 
field  duties  which  from  the  peaceful  Indian  situation 
were  very  light.  In  latter  part  of  September  and  Oc 
tober,  1892,  I  spent  two  months  at  Arizola  improv 
ing  my  desert  land  entry,  working  a  gang  of  men  in 
clearing,  plowing,  fencing,  ditching,  housebuilding 
and  well-digging  that  kept  me  actively  busy  from 
daylight  till  dark.  I  ran  the  camp  and  boarded  the 
men,  and  although  temperatures  went  to  110  degrees 
and  115  degrees  F,  every  day  in  the  shade,  the  very 
dry  air  and  cool  nights  kept  us  well  and  hearty  and 
I  never  ate  so  much  food  that  tasted  so  good  in  my 
life  as  then. 

These  high  temperatures  are  offset  by  the  great 
evaporation  from  the  skin,  owing  to  the  dry  desert 
air,  and  explains  why  the  desert  people  everywhere 
keep  well,  and  the  cool  nights  give  good  sleep  under 
blankets.  By  dressing  suitably  the  Arizona  climate 


Fort  Bowie  to  Jefferson  Barracks  103 

even  in  the  irrigation  lowlands  can  be  enjoyed.  In 
the  fall  of  1892  I  was  deep  in  the  problem  of  meeting 
expenses  on  the  Phoenix  fruit  farm  and  the 
Arizona  desert  land,  and  mortgaged  my  Washington 
wheat  land  as  far  as  I  could  to  sink  it  in  the  Arizona 
projects.  I  now  see  that  I  undertook  too  much  for 
the  small  capital  available,  and  should  have  stopped 
with  either  one,  which  probably  could  have  been  car 
ried  nicely  to  success. 

Just  when  my  personal  attention  was  most  need 
ed  my  military  duties  cut  in  and  took  pie  away.  I 
was  transferred  to  Fort  Bowie  in  the  fall  of  1892, 
and  passed  a  very  disagreeable  winter  there  till  in 
the  spring  when  I  was  ordered  on  recruiting  duty  to 
Jefferson  Barracks,  Missouri. 

At  Fort  Bowie,  Arizona,  fifteen  miles  from  Bowie 
station,  S.  P.  R.  R.  there  was  a  small  garrison  of  two 
troops  of  cavalry,  which  kept  detachments  almost 
constantly  in  the  field  after  Indians  in  the  early 
days,  but  when  I  was  there  everything  was  peace 
ful  and  small  parties  of  troops  were  kept  out  for 
practice  only.  The  post  was  in  Apache  Pass  of  the 
Chiracahua  Mountains,  at  about  4,000  feet  altitude, 
swept  by  desert  windstorms  loaded  with  dust  and 
alkali,  and  with  only  three  or  four  officers'  families, 
it  was  for  a  bachelor  about  as  trying  and  stupid  a 
station  as  I  ever  served  at,  and  I  hailed  with  delight 
the  change  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  with  its  nearness 
to  the  charming  and  hospitable  society  of  St.  Louis, 
Mo.  Nor  was  I  disappointed,  for  on  arrival  at  my 
new  station  in  April,  1893,  I  was  welcomed  into  a 
congenial  and  very  delightful  social  circle  of  young 
people,  who  formed  part  of  the  best  families  in  the 
fine  old  city.  I  was  given  charge  of  a  "company  of 
instruction"  for  training  recruits  for  the  cavalry 
arm  of  the  service.  For  many  years  this  training 
depot  had  been  a  source  of  new  recruits  well  drilled 


104  Congenial  Duty 


in  the  elements  that  go  to  make  a  soldier,  and  was 
then  in  the  height  of  its  efficiency.  Besides  admin 
istration  and  dismounted  drills  I  had  to  instruct  my 
recruits  in  the  customs  of  the  service,  and  attend 
gymnasium  exercises,  etc.  I  gave  a  series  of  lec 
tures  on  service  customs  and  developed  quite  a  knack 
for  extemporaneous  speaking.  My  duties  were  light 
and  congenial,  social  privileges  extensive,  and  recre 
ations  in  the  big  city  gratified  my  various  tastes, 
so  that  I  look  upon  the  year  and  a  half  spent  at  that 
post  as  one  of  my  most  favored  details.  I  made  and 
enjoyed  having  many  warm  friendships  of  which 
army  discipline  deprives  an  officer  more  than  is  gen 
erally  realized.  Discipline  calls  for  strict  obedience 
to  superiors  and  like  duty  from  inferiors. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Recruiting. 

Recruiting  used  to  be  considered  a  favor  by  single 
officers  and  as  a  burden  to  married  officers,  more 
or  less  welcome,  according  to  the  children's  fitness 
for  schooling.  It  meant  greater  expenses  in  either 
case  owing  to  social  demands,  theaters  and  the  va 
ried  expenses  of  city  life,  after  long  isolation  in 
frontier  posts.  For  a  bachelor  it  often  means  an  op 
portunity  to  find  a  good  wife,  but  for  me,  with  my 
tangled  financial  affairs  and  plan  of  independence 
from  army  life,  it  was  simply  a  very  delightful  es 
cape  from  monotonous  and  routine  military  experi 
ences. 

A  change  in  plan  of  training  recruits  broke  up 
the  system  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  and  I  was  sent  to 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  to  take  charge  of  the  city  recruit 
ing  office  there  in  September,  1894.  Now,  Nashville 
having  been  my  boyhood  home  till  of  high  school 
age,  it  can  easily  be  realized  how  I  welcomed  this 
change  of  station,  after  an  absence  of  more  than 
twenty  years. 

Nashville  has  been  called  the  "Athens"  of  the 
South  on  account  of  its  many  colleges,  seminaries 
and  excellent  public  schools. 

It  was  very  pleasant  to  fall  in  with  old  school  boy 
friends  now  grown  and  holding  positions  of  trust 
and  power,  with  families  of  children  as  old  as  we, 
when  I  left  to  seek  fortune  and  education  in  the 
north.  The  growth  of  the  city  in  population  and 
wealth  had  been  phenomenal,  and  at  first  I  did  not 


106  Easy  Duties  and  Hard  Times 

feel  at  home,  but  the  old  landmarks  and  old  friends 
soon  put  me  at  my  ease,  and  the  privileges  of  the 
leading  clubs  With  the  social  life  and  entertainment 
incident  thereto  soon  brought  a  very  strong  feeling 
of  belonging  to  the  life  of  the  city  again. 

My  duties  there  as  recruiting  officer  were  differ 
ent  from*  those  at  my  last  station,  being  simply  to 
examine  and  pass  upon  the  merits  of  the  candidates 
for  military  service,  rations  and  pay. 

I  found  in  charge  a  thorough  capable  and 
reliable  sergeant,  who  made  my  work  very 
light  and  enabeld  me  to  live  almost  as  in 
dependently  as  if  I  were  a  retired  business  man, 
so  that  I  shared  the  pleasures  and  occupations 
of  the  leisure  class  in  a  city  where  leisure  was  enjoy 
ed  and  appreciated. 

Literary  and  artistic  friends  opened  a 
new  field  of  delight  for  me,  and  with  the  excellent 
Carnegie  library  kept  me  busy  and  happy,  save  for 
my  worry  over  money  matters,  which  had  reached 
an  acute  state.  Hard  times  kept  me  from  borrowing 
on  my  valuable  wheat  lands  in  Washington,  while 
the  demands—of  the  fruit  farm  and  desert  lands  in 
Arizona—on  my  income  left  me  hardly  enough  spend 
ing  money  to  keep  up  appearances.  My  brother  from 
Switzerland  came  to  visit  with  me  and  I  settled  my 
accounts  with  him  by  transfer  of  my  unincumbered 
wheat  lands  and  half  interest  in  the  Phoenix  fruit 
farm  at  a  mere  fraction  of  their  real  value,  so  he 
would  escape  any  loss  from  investing  through  me. 
This  practically  put  me  back  ten  years  in  my  pro 
gress  toward  financial  independence,  leaving  me 
only  some  mortgaged  acres  in  Washington  and  un 
developed  desert  lands  in  Arizona.  While  in  Nashville 
I  met  for  the  first  time  the  young  lady  who  after 
wards  became  my  wife,  Miss  Janie  Branch  Seay,  a 
sister  of  my  boyhood  friend  and  schoolmate,  Samuel 


First  Met   Future  Wife  107 

Seay,  Jr.,  who  was  appointed  to  West  Point  from 
Nashville  a  year  after  I  went  from  Worcester,  and 
with  whom  I  spent  three  years  in  the  academy.  I 
called  on  his  people  and  found  a  charming  sister  of 
seventeen  or  eighteen  who  was  deep  in  musical 
studies  in  which  she  was  ambitious  to  shine.  I  took 
Thanksgiving  dinner  with  the  family  on  her  invita 
tion,  called  rather  frequently,  found  her  pleasant 
and  attractive  and  had  I  been  financially  independent 
might  have  tried  then  to  win  her,  but  I  was  not  free 
from  my  ambition  to  be  financially  independ 
ent  before  marriage  and  she  went  to  New 
York  City  to  complete  her  musical  studies, 
so  that  nothing  bordering  on  romance  arose 
at  that  time.  Eight  years  later,  however, 
while  I  was  in  the  Philipines,  fate  decreed 
that  we  should  resume  our  acquaintance,  now 
by  letter,  and  arrive  at  a  provisional  engagement, 
now  by  letter  and  arrive  at  a  provisional  engagement, 
subject  to  approval  at  our  next  opportunity  of  meet 
ing.  This  occurred  on  my  return  from  Manila,  Oct. 
1903,  and  we  were  married  January  llth,  1904,  but 
of  that  later  on. 

So  many  attractive  girls  came  into  my  life  at 
Nashvile  that  I  found  myself  interested  particularly 
in  several,  whose  charms  though  different,  offset 
each  other  to  such  degree,  that  I  did  not  become 
a  victim  to  any  one  of  them ;  and  closed  my  tour  of 
duty  without  any  particular  heart  burnings  for  any 
one,  though  feeling  a  real  affection  for  several,  as 
a  result  of  a  year's  social  intimacy  with  them,  in 
a  land  where  such  intimacy,  warms  the  heart  as 
nowhere  else. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Fort  Wingate,  New  Mexico. 

My  two  and  a  half  years'  tour  of  duty  on  re 
cruiting  service  was  terminated  Oct.  1895,  after  six 
months  more  than  usual  length,  (two  years)  by 
orders  taking  me  to  duty  with  a  troop  of  Second  Cav 
alry  at  Fort  Wingate,  N.  M.,  commanded  by  Captain 
Charles  B.  Schofield,  a  brother  of  General  Schofield 
of  Civil  War  fame.  Fort  Wingate  is  on  the  West 
slope  of  the  continental  divide  and  has  an  altitude 
of  about  7,000  feet,  is  four  miles  from  the  Santa 
Fe  R.  R.  and  then  held  a  garrison  of  six  troops  of 
Second  Cavalry  Headquarters  and  Band,  with  com 
fortable  quarters;  but  had  a  trying  and  over-stim 
ulating  climate,  on  account  of  the  altitude.  Every 
body  felt  tense,  nervous,  strung  up  and  more  or 
less  irritable.  I  found  two  or  three  factions  among 
the  families  that  were  hardly  on  speaking  terms 
with  each  other.  I  kept  neutral  so  far  as  possible 
but  it  was  very  trying  to  find  such  a  social  atmos 
phere  after  the  delightful  society  of  Nashville,  and 
I  was  driven  to  studies  for  relief. 

North  of  the  fort  lay  the  Navajo  Indian  reserva 
tion,  while  to  the  south  of  us  some  forty  miles 
were  the  Zuni  Indians  in  their  celebrated  many- 
storied  Pueblo  buildings  with  their  semi-pasto 
ral,  semi-agricultural  mode  of  living. 

At  first  the  high,  thin  air  made  me  pant  and  gasp 
for  breath  on  least  exertion,  but  as  the  lungs  ex 
panded,  even  violent  exercise  was  possible.  Aside 
from  cavalry  drills  we  had  mountain  climbing  and 


I  Became  Post  Exchange  Officer  109 

tennis  for  recreation,  varied  with  trips  to  the  reser 
vations  and  practice  marches  with  reports  and  map- 
making,  as  if  in  a  strange  country.  Our  nearest 
town,  thirteen  miles  distant,  was  Gallup,  a  coal  min 
ing  village,  while  Albuquerque  lay  126  miles  east  by 
rail.  Shortly  after  arrival  I  was  put  in  charge  of 
me  Post  Exchange,  then  a  mixture  of  general  store 
and  beer  saloon,  the  store  carrying  a  modest  stock  of 
merchandise,  candy,  cigars,  etc.,  and  the  beer  depart 
ment  carrying  carload  stocks  of  Milwaukee  or  St. 
Louis  beer. 

While  the  subsistence  Department  of  the  army 
supplied  standard  rations  for  the  enlisted  men  and 
sold  them  to  the  officers,  the  "Post  Exchange"  was 
established  to  handle  the  vexed  question  of  alcoholic 
drinks  and  extras  in  the  way  of  food  and  clothing, 
and  keep  the  profits  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers  in 
stead  of  letting  them  go  to  the  "Post  Trader,"  as  of 
old.  Beer  that  cost  17  cents  a  quart  bottle  sold  for 
25  cents  only  and  the  profits  on  a  carload,  which  was 
used  up  in  about  a  month,  ran  into  hundreds  of  dol 
lars. 

If  alcoholic  drinks  had  to  be  provided,  this  meth 
od,  under  military  administration,  did  perhaps  the 
least  harm. 

The  distribution  of  profits — pro  rata  to  each  or 
ganization  at  the  station — went  far  to  solving  the 
problem  of  meeting  incidental  and  emergency  ex 
penses,  which  always  have  worried  commanders  of 
troops.  My  duties  in  this  line,  while  not  congenial, 
still  kept  me  in  touch  with  the  outside  world,  and 
gave  me  extra  training. 

Of  trips  "in  the  field"  I  will  give  one  example. 
Gold  was  found  on  the  Navajo  reservation  many 
years  before  and  some  enterprising  prospectors  had 
slipped  in,  making  trouble  with  the  Indian  police.  In 
the  summer  of  1896  two  troops  of  cavalry  were  sent 
to  keep  out  adventurers  and  prevent  bloodshed.  The 


110  Sample  Trip  "in  the  Field" 

wagon  train  was  heavily-loaded,  the  roads  sandy, 
making  pulling  heavy,  watering  points  on  the  reser- 
tions  few  and  far  between,  and  alkali  at  that.  The 
first  day  with  six  mule  teams  in  soft  condition,  we 
had  to  make  a  rather  long  march  to  reach  water 
holes  or  small  springs  and  when  we  arrived  late  in 
the  afternoon,  we  were  disgusted  to  find  so  much  al 
kali  in  the  water,  that  the  horses  and  mules  refused 
to  drink  and  the  men  could  only  drink  it  when  made 
into  coffee,  and  then  with  much  discomfort  to  the 
throat  and  stomach. 

Second  day's  march  to  reach  water  was  about  30 
miles,  but  better  roads. 

To  make  matters  worse,  our  thirsty  men  and  an 
imals  had  to  face  a  heavy  dust  storm,  dry  and  alka 
line,  which  made  them  more  thirsty  and  irritated 
the  lungs  and  eyes.  The  dust  storm  increased  as 
the  day  wore  on,  till  a  veritable  desert  sand-storm 
was  on  us,  almost  obliterating  the  way,  and  blind 
ing  men  and  stock  alike.  Word  came  from  the  wag 
on  train  that  the  thirsty  draft  mules  were  giving 
out,  and  the  mounted  men  found  the  cavalry  horses 
suifering  so  much  that  they  were  ordered  to  dis 
mount  and  lead  horses  as  much  as  possible.  The 
pack  train,  after  dropping  its  loads  of  grain,  went 
to  the  help  of  the  wagon  train,  which  had  to  be  un 
loaded  in  part,  out  on  the  desert.  What  was  our 
chagrin  on  arriving  at  the  water  holes — called  Sheep 
Springs — to  find  what  little  water  had  gathered  in 
them  had  that  day  been  drank  up  by  a  herd  of  Indian 
ponies ! 

All  night  long  the  fragments  of  our  command 
came  drifting  in,  grizzly,  dirty,thirsty,  hungry,  an 
gry,  with  reports  of  dead  mules  and  abandoned 
stores. 

The  storm  of  dust  continued  well  into  the  night. 
A  few  tents  for  the  officers  and  cooks  were  put  up 
with  difficulty.  The  horses  tied  to  their  picket 


Sand  Storm  in  the  Desert  111 

lines  with  their  swollen  tongues  dry  and  protruding 
turned  their  backs  to  the  driving  sand,  while  the 
soldiers  and  teamsters  rolled  themselves  in  their 
blankets  and  wearily  passed  the  night  half  suffocated 
and  almost  sleepless  from  thirst.  Sixteen  miles  to 
the  next  water !  A  light  ambulance  with  four  pick 
ed  mules,  was  sent  ahead  with  empty  barrels  and 
canteens  to  bring  back  water  for  the  command  which 
was  in  such  danger  from  thirst  and  fatigue.  It  was 
thought  best  to  stay  and  wait  for  the  water,  but 
with  the  morning  came  quiet  and  sunshine,  and  the 
command,  with  half  empty  wagons,  leaving  the  bulk 
of  our  stores  under  charge  of  an  Indian  living  nearby 
drew  wearily  out  of  camp  and  met  the  ambulance 
bringing  sweet,  wholesome  water,  several  miles  out. 
The  mules  and  horses  had  their  mouths  and  nostrils 
sponged  out,  the  canteens  quenched  the  thirst  of  the 
men  and  we  reached  the  new  camp,  with  plenty  of 
water,  early  in  the  afternoon.  Our  troubles  were 
nearly  over  with  the  loss  of  several  mules  and 
horses,  and  one  or  two  men  delirious  from  thirst. 
We  reached  the  San  Juan  river,  running  swift  and 
cold  and  belly  deep  on  our  horses  in  a  day  or  two 
and  camped  to  bring  up  the  abandoned  stores.  We 
spent  the  summer  on  guard  near  the  corner  of  four 
states — Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  Colorado — 
where  the  river  plunges  down  canyons  leading  to  the 
Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado  river.  We  returned 
late  in  the  summer  to  Fort  Wingate  without  further 
trouble  but  thoroughly  weary  of  idle  camp  life,  far 
out  of  touch  with  the  world,  seeing  only  an  occasional 
Indian. 

In  the  fall  of  1896  trouble  over  alleged  witches, 
caused  me  to  be  sent  to  the  Zuni  Indian  Pueblo, 
about  forty  miles  southwest  of  Fort  Wingate  with 
a  detachment  of  soldiers  to  keep  the  peace.  We 
spent  several  months  there  that  winter  in  conical 
wall  tents  and  had  the  opportunity  of  studying  at 


112  With  the  Zimi  Indians 

close  hand  these  very  interesting  Pueblo  In 
dians.  They  have  their  history  chanted  or 
recited  to  them  every  year,  by  a  fictitious 
character  somewhat  like  our  Santa  Glaus,  and 
this  visitor  goes  to  each  clan-assembly  room 
in  turn,  and  repeats  the  story  amid  great 
feasts  and  joyous  harvest  dances.  Many  clans 
once  numerous  in  members  have  disappeared,  but  all 
surviving  clans  have  their  secret  assembly  room  call 
ed  Estufa,  I  think,  where  all  important  business  af 
fecting  the  clan  is  settled  in  council. 

There  are  "Turkey,"  "Bear,"  "Wolf"  and  other 
clans  of  which  I  do  not  know,  but  of  which  a  good 
account  is  given  in  Cushing's  report  to  the  Smithso 
nian  Institute  in  Washington,  which  is  well  worth 
reading  by  anybody  who  wants  to  know  his  U.  S. 
Indian  history. 

This  tribe  has  lived  in  a  three  or  four  story 
adobe  "Pueblo"  of  many  hundred  rooms,  probably 
for  centuries,  practicing  irrigation  farming  along 
the  Zuni  river.  They  fled  to  a  flat  topped  mountain 
and  there  stood  off  the  Spanish  invaders,  have  sur 
vived  many  Indian  wars  (with  Nayajos,  etc.,)  and 
have  even  revived  their  ancient  religion  when  free 
dom  from  Mexican  control  let  them  throw 
over  Catholicism,  and  their  present  ceremonies  date 
back  to  remote  antiquity,  scarcely  colored  by  the 
long  Catholic  domination.  Many  amusing  and  gro 
tesque  dances  are  held  by  the  different  clans,  in  cos 
tumes  and  masks,  notably  the  "mudhead"  dance, 
where  each  is  hidden  under  a  baked  clay  head-mask. 
I  enjoyed  my  stay  there  and  felt  under  much  obliga 
tion  for  courtesies,  to  Mr.  Graham,  Indian  trader, 
and  the  teachers  of  the  U.  S.  Government  school. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"Spanish  War." 

I  had  scarcely  returned  to  Fort  Wingate  when 
the  Spanish  War  came  up,  and  the  Second  Cavalry 
was  ordered  to  Mobile,  Ala.  Having  to  wait  till  my 
stock  of  Post  Exchange  goods  was  turned  over  to 
other  troops,  I  was  unable  to  join  the  regiment  for 
several  weeks  and  then  by  a  detour  via  Nashville, 
giving  me  a  chance  to  visit  my  late  friends  there 
before  going  to  war. 

When  I  joined  at  Mobile,  orders  came  after  long 
delay — waiting  for  transports  to  Cuba — for  our  reg 
iment  to  embark,  but  before  one  squadron  had  com 
pleted  its  embarking,  counter-orders  came  to  hold 
the  other  two  squadrons,  and  send  them  to  Tampa, 
Fla.,  to  take  ship  there.  We  went  to  Tampa  and 
into  camp  along  side  of  Roosevelt's  "Rough  Riders," 
and  just  when  our  two  squadrons  and  headquarters 
expected  to  embarK,  the  Rough  Riders  got  orders 
anead  of  us,  leaving  nothing  available  to  take  us  over 
and  we  lay  there  through  part  of  the  rainy  season, 
till  our  flooded  camps  called  for  a  move  and  our  reg 
iment,  with  others,  went  to  Fernandina,  Fla.,  where 
we  stayed  till  camp  sickness — strongly  suspected  of 
being  yellow  fever,  as  well  as  typhoid — caused  us  to 
be  sent  hastily  to  the  east  end  of  Long  Island  at 
Montauk  Point. 

I  had  been  appointed  Regimental  Commissary  Of 
ficer  at  Tampa,  and  only  relieved  at  Fernandina,  to 
be  appointed  Brigade  Quartermaster  of  Noyes  "Pro 
visional  Cavalry  Brigade."  My  chief  duty  was  to  sup- 


114  Brigade  Commissary  at  Montauk  Point 

ply  our  brigade  with  re-mounts  from  a  miscellaneous 
stock  of  horses,  gathered  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
which  resulted  at  one  time  in  my  being  accountable 
for  some  $30,000  worth  of  horse  flesh  for  which  I 
had  no  receipts  from  the  regimental  quartermasters 
in  the  brigade.  The  provisional  brigade  was  dissolv 
ed,  papers  straightened  out  and  I  again  acted  as  Com 
missary,  this  time  to  a  brigade  at  Montauk  Point. 
While  at  Montauk  the  pitiable  remnant  of  our  first 
squadron  Second  Cavalry,  rejoined  the  regiment 
from  Cuba  in  a  deplorable  condition,  from  their  pri 
vations  in  the  Santiago  campaign.  Gaunt,  haggard, 
exhausted  mentally  and  physically,  decimated  by  dis 
ease  and  battle,  they  presented  a  most  striking  il 
lustration  of  war  being  "hell."  After  rallying  a 
large  part  of  our  Spanish  veterans  and  feeding  and 
resting  them  into  good  condition,  the  Second  Caval 
ry,  owing  to  cold  weather,  was  sent  with  other  regi 
ments,  to  Huntsville,  Ala.,  for  winter  quarters.  Here 
we  made  a  pleasant  and  permanent  winter  camp  and 
life  went  on  in  regular  garrison  form,  including  ex 
aminations  for  promotion.  I  passed  successfully, 
took  up  Spanish  and  got  ready  for  further  attacks 
on  the  Spaniards.  Huntsville  was  quite  gay  with  the 
troops ;  and  parties  and  balls  numerous,  and  again  I 
left  a  pleasant  camp  station  with  regret  to  go  to 
Cuba. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Cuba  and  Sick  Leave. 

In  a  blinding  snowstorm  in  February,  1899,  the 
Second  Cavalry  entrained  horses  and  men  to  go  to 
Cienf uegos,  Cuba,  via  transport  from  Savannah,  Ga. 
Our  heavy  winter  clothing  and  overcoats  seemed 
hardly  appropriate  for  tropical  service,  but  they  were 
certainly  all  right  for  Huntsville  and  Savannah  both 
being  covered  with  snow.  At  Savannah  we  found  a 
large,  broad-beamed  cattle  steamer  of  the  Atlantic 
Transport  Co.,  fitted  up  to  carry  men  in  tiers  of 
berths  on  one  deck  and  horses  in  stalls  on  two  other 
decks.  It  was  my  first  experience  with  live  stock 
at  sea,  and  was  remarkably  free  from  damage,  ow 
ing  to  the  wide  beam,  great  size  and  having  bilge 
keels  on  each  side  of  the  bottom  to  prevent  rolling. 
We  had  good  weather,  too,  and  after  a  night's  stop 
over  in  Havana  harbor  on  the  way — which  gave  me 
my  first  and  only  view  of  that  famous  port,  and  the 
top  works  of  the  sunken  "Maine" — we  steamed 
around  the  west  end  of  Cuba,  and  kept  in 
sight  of  her  south  coast  past  the  Isle  of 
Pines,  to  Cienfuegos  harbor,  completely 
land-locked  with  narrow,  crooked  entrance,  hav 
ing  an  ancient  fort  covering  the  first  strtech 
from  the  ocean.  The  Spanish  garrison  had 
evacuated  the  town  a  day  or  two  before  and  our 
troops  wlent  into  camp  in  the  outskirts  in  open  fields 
with  excellent  water  and  well-drained  ground.  We 
had  been  there  only  a  short  time,  when  military 
measles  broke  out  in  the  camp,  and  affected  quite  a 


116  How  Measles  Gave  Me  Sick  Leave 

number  of  the  men,  who  were  quarantined.  Two  or 
three  months  later,  after  we  had  almost  forgotten 
the  measles,  some  of  the  officers,  including  myself, 
came  down  with  it.  Meanwhile,  my  study  of  Span 
ish,  begun  at  West  Point  in  1883,  taken  up  vigorously 
at  Huntsville,  went  steadily  on,  and  I  practiced  each 
lesson  on  my  Spanish  acquaintances  in  the  social 
circle  and  clubs  of  the  town,  with  quite  rapid  pro 
gress. 

My  duties  took  me  to  all  parts  of  the  town,  and  I 
may  have  picked  up  the  measles  there  quite  as 
probably  as  in  camp.  One  night  I  was  making  a 
social  call  on  a  Spanish  family,  where  some  young 
lady  friends  were  gathered,  when  they  began  to 
tease  me  about  my  very  red  face,  which  was  hot  and 
flushed,  when  suddenly  an  old  lady  called  out,  "Ser- 
ampion,"  Spanish  word  for  military  measles.  That 
was  the  end  of  my  social  visits  for  I  was  at  once 
quarantined  in  camp  where  I  put  in  two  or  three 
weeks  in  my  tent,  in  solitary  gloom.  A  cold  wave 
swept  over  Cuba,  caught  me  convalescent,  drove  the 
measles  in,  and  nearly  killed  me  with  an  attack  of 
dysentery.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  travel,  I  was 
given  sick  leave  for  a  month,  and  took  the  "Ward 
Line"  steamer  for  New  York,  which  gave  me  a 
chance  to  see  enroute  the  interesting  battle  fields 
of  Santiago,  and  San  Juan  Hill,  as  well  as  the  Brit 
ish  port  of  Nassau,  in  the  Bahamas. 

Owing  to  quarantine  regulations  at  New  York 
City,  our  steamer  took  her  time  and  stopped  in  each 
port  long  enough  for  passengers  to  have  a  good  visit 
ashore.  The  sea  trip  six  days,  braced  me  up, 
and  I  hurried  on  to  Worcester  where  I  visited  a 
month,  May,  with  my  sister's  family,  had  my  sick 
leave  extended  another  month  which  I  spent  with 
my  uncle,  Theodore  C.  Bates,  in  his  Worcester  home, 
with  occasional  trips  to  the  old  Bates  homestead, 


Promotion  Takes  Me  to  Puerto  Rico  117 

where  my  grandfather,  at  North  Brookfield,  Mass., 
reared  his  family  of  fourteen  children.  My  stay  in 
Massachusetts  was  of  great  benefit,  strengthened 
my  health,  warmed  and  cheered  my  heart  and  re 
newed  my  interest  in  life. 

Meanwhile  my  promotion  to  Captain  of  Cavalry, 
from  March  2nd,  1899,  called  for  my  change  of  reg 
iment — to  the  Fifth  Cavalry,  and  of  station — to 
Puerto  Rico.  Bidding  a  regretful  farewell,  July  4th, 
1899,  to  my  kinfolks  in  Worcester,  I  took  steamer 
from  New  York  and  after  five  days  peaceful  voyage, 
reached  San  Juan,  Puerto  Rico  and  took  the  train 
for  Mayaguez. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Puerto  Rico. 

From  San  Juan  to  Mayaguez,  a  traveler  had  to 
take  a  train  westward  along  the  coast  on  a  French 
built  railroad,  not  then  completed,  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  Island,  where  the  stages  took  us  over 
a  rough  mountainous  country,  to  Aguadillo,  where 
the  railroad  again  took  us  south  along  the  west  coast 
to  the  charming  town  of  Mayaguez.  Here  I  found 
headquarters,  band,  four  troops  of  Fifth  Cavalry, 
and  some  companies  of  Infantry,  the  officers  having 
very  pleasant  homes,  vacated  by  Spaniards,  in  fear 
of  trouble,  and  the  troops  in  substantial  stone  bar 
racks,  recently  vacated  by  Spanish  troops.  Living 
right  in  town  as  we  did,  with  running  water  and  elec 
tric  lights  was  a  new  and  novel  experience  in  my 
military  service.  I  was  at  once  appointed  Regiment 
al  Quartermaster  and  found  quarters  in  the  ex-may 
or's  house,  a  handsome  second-floor  residence  of  ten 
or  twelve  rooms,  where  I  expected  to  entertain  my 
Aunt  Emma  Bates  and  her  debutante  daughter,  my 
beautiful  cousin,  Tryphosa,  they  having  promised  me 
a  visit  instead  of  their  usual  trip  to  Europe.  A  hur 
ricane  of  the  worst  West  Indian  type  prevented  their 
coming.  I  had  scarcely  gotten  settled  in  my  new 
quarters  and  duties  when  it  broke  loose  upon  us 
carrying  destruction,  despair  and  death  to  all  parts 
of  the  lovely  island.  A  vast  rotating  storm,  one 
hundred  miles  in  diameter,  came  up  from  the  south 
and  whirling  with  a  speed  of  90  to  120  miles  an  hour, 
siezed  and  shook  and  stripped  the  little  island.  Cof- 


Quartermaster  at  Mayaguez,  P.  R.  119 

fee  plantations  wrecked,  bananas  beaten  down, 
houses  unroofed,  stock  drowned  and  sugar  planta 
tions  inundated,  marked  the  course  of  the  cyclonic 
storm.  Two  days  and  nights  of  storm  and  stress 
and  suffering,  then  all  was  serene  again,  but  Puerto 
Rico  was  like  a  wrecked  dismantled  ship. 

Then  Puerto  Rico  found  to  her  surprise  that  she 
had  a  friend  indeed  in  the  United  States  Government. 
Vast  quantities  of  substantial  food  came  pouring  into 
the  island,  to  be  distributed  free  to  the  needy.  It 
was  honestly  done  by  the  government  officials,  most 
ly  by  the  different  quartermasters  and  commissaries 
at  principal  points.  To  me  fell  the  care  of  those  in 
and  around  Mayaguez.  Tons  of  rice,  codfish,  beans 
and  flour  were  given  to  the  poor  and  doubtless  saved 
many  lives.  As  Quartermaster  I  was  allowed  a  boat 
to  go  to  and  from  transports  bringing  supplies,  and 
a  clever  carpenter  on  my  force  rigged  it  out  for  sail 
ing  ;  and  when  duties  were  not  pressing,  myself  and 
"crew" — an  old  veteran  sailor  trained  in  the  Span 
ish  navy  but  almost  helpless  with  rheumatism — used 
to  cruise  along  the  coast.  About  half  a  day's  run 
south  we  found  a  small  bight  or  bay  that  had  once 
been  the  rendezvous  of  pirates.  Their  descendents 
were  still  there,  but  now  in  the  peaceful  occupation 
of  weaving  Panama  hats.  This  was  our  favorite  ex 
cursion,  for  we  found  there  abundance  of  native  wild 
oysters,  clinging  to  the  mangrove  bushes  along  the 
shore,  easily  gathered  at  low  tide.  Coming  back  to 
town  was  not  so  easy,  as  we  often  had  to  beat  against 
wind  and  current,  which  would  keep  us  out  on  the 
ocean  in  our  frail  craft  far  into  the  night,  much  to 
the  chagrin  of  the  "crew,"  who  realized  far  better 
than  I  did  the  danger  of  going  to  the  bottom  by  a 
sudden  squall,  in  those  waters.  I  became  a  rather 
skillful  and  somewhat  venturesome  sailor  in  our  lit 
tle  sloop,  and  enjoyed  sailing  alone  or  with  a  party 


120  Life  in  the  Tropics 

of  friends  best  of  anything  there.  It  kept  me  healthy 
and  gave  me  a  good  appetite  when  all  else  failed  in 
that  hot  and  sweltering  land.  Mosquitoes  and  fleas 
were  most  annoying,  swarming  in  every  household 
and  carrying,  as  we  know  now,  more  or  less  disease. 

By  now  I  had  acquired  great  fluency  in  Spanish, 
having  to  use  it  more  hours  daily  than  I  did  English, 
for  I  had  to  give  directions  to  native  carpenters, 
teamsters,  contractors  and  laborers  in  my  various 
duties,  as  well  as  take  part  in  social  gayeties  where 
Spanish  alone  could  make  you  really  welcome.  I  ap 
plied  my  old  "Loisette  memory  system"  to  the  task 
with  great  benefit,  so  that  I  quickly  picked  up  the 
broken  common  language  of  the  illiterate,  as  well  as 
the  polished  idioms  of  the  salon,  and  was  often  called 
upon  to  replace  the  official  interpreter  by  the  regi 
mental  commander  in  matters  of  discretion.  With  all 
the  discomforts  of  life  in  the  Tropics  there  were 
compensations  which  made  me  regret  leaving  Maya- 
guez  and  I  look  back  on  my  stay  there,  among 
those  simple  and  kindly  people,  with  a  wish  that  I 
could  see  them  again.  My  household  consisted  of 
myself  and  Lieutenant  Foley,  with  a  native  Puerto 
Rican  and  wife  as  cook  and  houseboy,  with  numbers 
of  their  family  dropping  in  constantly.  There  being 
no  ladies  in  our  household,  we  were  keeping  bachelor 
apartments  in  a  light  housekeeping  way,  having 
only  an  occasional  guest.  I  used  my  field  "mess  kit" 
of  graniteware  and  all  was  rather  plain  and  simple. 
The  inner  court  was  open  to  the  sky  above  and  to  the 
ground  below  where  the  rear  doors  of  shops  opened 
on  a  common  patio.  I  decorated  my  quarters  with 
tubs  of  luxuriant  tropical  plants,  making  pleasant  ef 
fects  with  the  electric  lights  shining  amongst  them. 
The  cooking  was  done  with  charcoal  in  a  range  com 
posed  of  individual  braziers  carrying  separate  fires 
for  each  cooking  utensil  used.  I  taught  the  cook 


Life  in   the   Tropics— Continued  121 

some  American  dishes,  by  translating  the  recipes 
to  her,  step  by  step,  till  finished,  after  which  I  need 
ed  only  to  name  a  dish  to  get  it  cooked  from  memory. 
To  learn  the  names  of  vegetables,  meats  and  fishes 
I  went  to  market  daily  till  I  found  the  dealers  charg 
ed  me  two  or  three  times  what  the  natives  paid. 
Whereupon  I  sent  our  cook  and  she,  for  five  or  ten 
cents,  American  money,  daily,  kept  my  table  well 
supplied  with  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables.  Sea  fish 
was  abundant  and  cheap,  while  meats  were  rather 
expensive.  The  natives  though  abjectly  poor  as  a 
rule,  were  cheerful,  courteous  and  obliging.  With 
the  more  wealthy  class  the  officers  exchanged  social 
courtesies  by  giving  a  weekly  hop,  8:30  to 
11 :30  p.  m.  in  the  local  theater,  with  music 
by  the  Fifth  Cavalry  band  orchestra,  so  that 
we  met  our  native  friends  quite  frequently 
and  gradually  got  used  to  their  dark  and 
swarthy  complexions:  for,  though  largely  of 
Spanish  blood,  tropical  sun  made  them  very  dark,  and 
this  rather  annoyed  me  at  first,  as  it  had  in  Cuba. 
All  shades  of  color  and  mixtures  of  blood,  from 
pure  white  to  coal  black,  were  to  be  found  in  the 
population  without  seeming  to  arouse  any  class  feel 
ing,  so  long  had  the  mixing  of  blacks  and  whites 
been  going  on.  The  original  pure  blood  Indian  had 
disappeared,  but  every  native  claimed  to  be  of  Span 
ish  descent,  whatever  his  color,  showing  the  respect 
given  white  blood.  Small  pox  was  so  common  as  to 
pass  almost  unnoticed,  but  by  universal  vaccination 
enforced  and  applied  to  men,  women  and  children  by 
the  United  States  it  disappeared  and  some  20,000 
lives  were  saved  yearly.  The  "hookworm"  disease 
prevailed  in  some  localities,  sapping  the  vitality  and 
making  its  victims  seem  even  more  than  normally 
lazy,  but  its  presence  was  not  generally  understood 
at  that  time.  The  Fifth  Cavalry  was  ordered  back 


122  Return  to  the  States 

to  the  United  States  in  August,  1900,  and  we  came 
to  our  new  station  on  a  transport  to  New  York,  and 
thence  by  trains  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  marched 
across  the  Potomac  river  bridge  to  Fort  Myer,  Va., 
opposite  Washington. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Fort  Myer,  and  Washington. 

Although  one  of  my  shortest  tours  of  duty  in 
garrison,  my  stay  at  Fort  Myer,  was  one  of  the  best 
of  my  life,  and  gave  me  more  satisfaction  than  any 
other  up  to  that  time.  My  duties  as  quartermaster 
of  the  post  and  regiment  were  not  burdensome, 
though  involving  large  money  responsibilities,  I  was 
almost  free  to  come  and  go  to  Washington  at  will, 
with  a  carriage  for  my  own  use,  with  delightful  quar 
ters  and  my  first  housekeeping  where  I  could  enter 
tain.  On  my  sick  leave  visit  to  Worcester  in  1899 
my  married  niece,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Spring,  and  her  unmar 
ried  sister,  Miss  Mattie  Haselden,  had  promised  me 
a  long  visit  at  my  next  suitable  station  in  the  United 
States  and  as  soon  as  I  was  located  in  my  new  quar 
ters  they  came  south  to  help  me  fit  out  my  house, 
and  enjoy  a  winter  of  Washington  life.  My  horses 
furnished  us  means  for  taking  many  delightful  rides 
and  drives  in  and  around  Washington.  The  weekly 
hops  brought  numbers  of  people  from  the  social  sets 
of  the  city,  while  the  theaters  and  sessions  of  con 
gress  gave  us  plenty  of  objective  points. 

My  niece,  Mattie  Haselden,  had  not  long  before 
returned  from  a  visit  to  her  uncle,  Lyman  C.  Bryan, 
my  brother  at  Basel,  Switzerland,  and  was  enthusias 
tic  over  decorating  the  house  and  both  com 
bined  to  make  my  quarters  more  homelike,  cosy  and 
attractive  than  any  I  had  ever  occupied.  With  an 
excellent  old  negro  cook,  Thomas,  and  a  Puerto  Ri- 
can  youth,  Alonzo,  for  houseboy,  we  had  a  congenial 
and  smooth-working  household.  Thomas  was  an 


124  My  First  Real  Housekeeping 

artist  in  cookery  and  enabled  us  to  give  some  pleas 
ant  little  dinner  parties  and  "after-the-ball"  suppers 
which  were  even  more  delightful  to  me  as  host  than 
to  my  guests,  for  entertaining  thus  had  been  impos 
sible  theretofore.  The  winter  passed  all  too  quickly, 
and  we  were  settled  down  for  what  we  hoped  would 
be  a  long  stay  for  me  there,  when  conditions  in  the 
Philipines  caused  the  regiment  to  be  ordered  there 
in  the  spring  of  1901.  In  the  late  summer  preceding, 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  a  trip  to  Atlantic  City,  with 
some  old  friends  from  St.  Louis,  which  gave  me  my 
first  experience  of  life  at  a  big  seacoast  American 
watering  place,  and  during  the  winter  I  had  a  chance 
to  entertain  a  dear  friend  of  the  Nashville  recruit 
ing  days,  whose  gifts  musically  and  vocally,  had 
brought  her  to  some  prominence  on  the  stage.  Her 
manager  furnished  me  tickets  for  a  box  party,  and 
we  had  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  her  at  the  fort. 
Her  stage  name  was  Caro  Gordon  Leigh,  and  she 
w,as  playing  then  in  "The  Old  Homestead."  Side 
trips  to  Baltimore  and  Mt.  Vernon,  with  excursions 
on  the  Potomac,  gave  variety  to  our  life. 

One  of  the  attractions  of  the  capital  of  which  we 
never  tired  was  the  incomparable  "Congressional 
Library,"  with  its  infinite  stores  of  books  in  a  per 
fectly  artistic  setting.  Another  was  the  Corcoran 
Art  Gallery,  with  its  fine  collection  of  bronzes, 
statuary  and  paintings. 

Washington  itself  has  so  many  points  of  interest, 
opportunities  for  education  and  such  cosmopolitan 
society  that  it  becomes  a  broadening  influence  on 
every  visitor  and  left  with  me  an  indelible  impres 
sion  of  culture  and  refinement  to  be  enjoyed,  more 
than  any  other  one  city  I  had  visited. 

Having  to  break  up  my  household  so  soon  was  a 
keen  sorrow  to  us  all.  My  nieces  returned  to  Worces 
ter,  and  early  in  March,  1901,  the  regiment  equipped 


To    Frisco   by   Troop   Train  125 

for  tropical  service  and  leaving  all  their  families  be 
hind,  to  follow  later  if  advisable,  took  troop  trains 
for  a  trans-continental  run  to  Frisco. 

As  Regimental  Quartermaster  and  Commissary 
I  had  charge  of  the  transportation,  verifying  the 
number  of  men  and  officers  on  the  trains,  etc.,  and 
arranging  ahead  at  suitable  points  for  supplies  of 
hot  coffee,  to  be  served  as  part  of  the  travel  ration 
of  our  troops.  We  traveled  as  a  special  train  in  two 
sections,  going  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
to  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  thence  over  the  Santa  Fe  lines 
through  Kansas,  New  Mexico,  Arizona  and  Califor 
nia  and  arrived  without  serious  accident  or  delay, 
going  almost  immediately  on  board  the  United 
States  Army  transport,  "Meade,"  as  soon  as  our 
stores  and  supplies  could  be  transferred  to  it.  I 
found  much  improvement  in  the  arrangements 
aboard  for  the  care  and  comfort  of  the  men  over 
what  we  had  experienced  going  to  Cuba  two  years 
before,  but  the  absence  of  bilge-keels  on  the  Meade 
made  her  roll  like  a  log  to  our  great  discomfort,  all 
the  way  across  the  Pacific. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Manila,  P.  I. 

On  emerging  from  Golden  Gate  we  ran  into  a  stiff 
gale  which  threatened  to  be  so  severe  that  instead  of 
going  direct  to  Manila  our  course  was  changed  to  go 
by  the  longer  but  calmer  course,  via  Honolulu,  which 
we  reached  in  about  nine  or  ten  days.  Our  horses 
were  shipped  in  a  stock  transport,  with  a  detach 
ment  of  soldiers  to  help  feed  and  look  after  them 
and  we  did  not  see  them  till  we  reached  Honolulu, 
where  horses  were  taken  off  and  given  exercise  on 
shore  to  prepare  them  for  a  longer  lap  of  the  voyage 
which  was  yet  to  come.  Our  transport  laid  over  in 
Pearl  Harbor  two  days  and  gave  me  a  chance  to  see 
the  sights  in  and  around  the  city.  The  wonderfully 
even  climate  is  delightful,  but  is  thought  tiresome  to 
those  who  live  there  long.  While  the  largest  sugar 
plantations  are  on  the  other  islands,  there  are  cele 
brated  and  profitable  ones  in  the  vicinity  of  Hono 
lulu.  Our  course  next  became  due  west  parallel  to 
the  equator  just  out  of  the  tropics,  and  in  a  mild 
trade  wind  region  that  made  the  travel  very  comfort 
able.  On  and  on  and  on  westward  we  steamed  and 
our  daily  progress  on  the  chart  of  the  wide  Pacific 
was  hardly  noticeable,  but  we  finally  passed  the  180 
degrees  meridian,  east  and  west  from  Greenwich, 
and  took  up  a  day — "Antipodes  Day"  making  two 
days  of  the  same  date — that  was  gained  by  sailing 
west. 

The  trip  was  uneventful  and  more  or  less  monot 
onous  from  its  length  and  daily  sameness  of  condi- 


The  Voyage  to  Manila  by  Transport  127 

tions  over  the  more  than  five  thousand  miles  to  Ma 
nila  from  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It  was  my  longest 
single  voyage  without  going  into  any  port  and  gave 
us  all  a  good  rest  and  preparation  for  tropical  ser 
vice.  The  daily  routine  covered  only  such  light 
drills  as  could  be  held  in  the  small  open  places  on 
the  decks,  while  the  sea  air  kept  up  our  appetites  for 
the  substantial  meals  on  the  transport,  which  while 
not  so  elaborate  as  on  trans-Atlantic  liners,  were 
very  good  for  the  $1.00  per  day  charged  to  officers 
and  members  of  their  families. 

Meals  for  enlisted  men  were  prepared  in  usual 
style  from  their  rations,  which  were  so  complete  and 
well-kept  by  the  refrigerator  service  that  the  fare 
was  as  good  as  when  on  shore  in  regular  garrison, 
and  there  was  no  reasonable  ground  for  complaint. 
We  arrived  in  Manila  Harbor  in  April,  1901,  after 
about  thirty-six  days  travel  by  land  and  sea  from 
Fort  Myer.  We  were  given  station  in  the  vicinity 
of  Manila,  with  headquarters  and  band  at  "El  De- 
posito" — city  reservoir  of  Manila — which  was  only  a 
few  minutes  drive  from  the  city. 

At  the  time  of  our  arrival  the  worst  was  over  in 
that  part  of  the  islands,  and  the  troops  had  only  the 
duty  of  preserving  order  and  helping  in  the  organ 
izing  of  the  American  government.  Receptions  and 
banquets  to  bring  Americans  and  natives  together 
were  frequent  and  enjoyable,  and  again  I  felt  repaid 
for  my  hard  work  in  mastering  the  Spanish  lan 
guage,  as  it  made  me  welcome  and  understood  in  all 
circles.  Soon  we  were  settled  at  headquarters,  I 
having  charge  of  the  officers'  mess  and  my  usual  du 
ties  as  Quartermaster  and  Commissary.  We  were 
expecting  a  good  stay  in  our  pleasant  quarters  in  the 
big  administration  building  of  the  water  department 
when  by  accident,  one  of  my  government  draft 
mules,  afflicted  with  "surra" — which  causes  imper- 


128  Get  a  Troop  and  Independent  Station 

feet  control  of  walking — fell  into  the  reservoir  while 
grazing  near  one  of  the  openings,  and  it  infected  the 
city  wiater  supply.  We  were  ordered  to  move  out  and 
sent  to  a  near-by  vacant  convent  where  we  had  two 
of  our  troops  already.  The  mule  cost  the  city  a  con 
siderable  sum  to  refill  the  reservoir,  and  us  the  loss 
of  our  convenient  and  more  comfortable  quarters. 

For  nearly  a  year  I  enjoyed  the  social  life  in  Ma 
nila,  meeting  many  natives  and  foreigners  engaged 
in  business  or  politics  in  the  city.  I  had  now  been 
some  three  years  on  the  regimental  staff  away  from 
duty  with  a  troop,  and  seeing  a  chance  to  command 
a  troop  and  station  of  my  own,  I  asked  the  colonel 
to  let  me  have  a  troop  and  be  relieved  from  my  du 
ties  as  regimental  Quartermaster  and  Commissary, 
to  which  he  acceded  very  kindly  and  gave  me  a 
troop  at  Bayambang,  Pangasinan  province  on  the 
northern  end  of  the  Manila  and  Dagupen  railroad, 
about  sixty  miles  from  Manila.  This  station  and 
duty  suited  my  fancy  very  well  as  it  gave  me  author 
ity,  responsibility  and  independence,  with  a  chance  to 
study  the  conditions  in  a  different  part  of  the  island. 
My  troop  remained  there  for  some  months,  till  a 
large  per  cent  of  our  horses  were  affected  with  surra 
and  died. 

While  at  Bayambang  my  actress  friend  "Caro 
Gordon  Leigh"  came  to  Manila  with  her  younger 
sister  on  a  government  transport,  and  telegraphed 
me  of  their  arrival.  I  gave  myself  a  week's  leave  of 
absence  (which  I  could  do  as  commander  of  station) 
and  went  to  Manila,  where  we  had  a  pleasant  visit 
and  I  took  some  degrees  in  Masonry.  This  was  my 
first  chance — while  in  the  Philipines — to  become  a 
member  of  the  Masonic  order,  which  I  had  done 
while  stationed  near  the  city.  My  friend,  Caro,  form 
ed  a  romantic  attachment  for  an  infantry  lieutenant 
on  the  voyage  out  from  Frisco,  and  they  were  mar- 


Investments.     Cholera.     Bubonic  Plague  129 

ried  and  went  on  to  his  station  in  a  southern  island. 
My  friends  in  Manila  teased  me  about  her  coming, 
as  if  she  were  to  marry  me,  and  only  let  up  when 
she  married  Lieutenant  Hansen,  with  my  best  wish 
es.  I  returned  to  Bayambang  after  passing  to  the 
degree  of  Master  Mason  in  Manila  Lodge,  342,  and 
completing  the  business  I  had  come  to  attend  to  in 
connection  with  some  local  investments.  I  had  taken 
stock  in  the  "American  Bank  of  Manila,"  when  first 
organized  by  Major  Mulford,  and  later  became  a  di 
rector  of  the  same.  I  had  also  taken  stock  in  the 
Maritima  Co.,  a  sort  of  shipping  trust,  and  in  the 
Maria  Christina  Cigar  Manufacturing  Conpany.  All 
three  promised  well  at  the  time  but  owing  to  the  un- 
f orseen  business  depression  following  the  severe  out 
break  of  cholera  and  bubonic  plague  in  the  islands, 
these  ventures  turned  out  badly,  causing  me  a  loss  of 
nearly  $10,000  and  shattering  my  illusions  as  to  the 
profits  in  tropical  investments.  In  the  fall  of  1902 
my  station  at  Bayambang  was  abandoned  and  I  with 
my  troop  was  sent  to  San  Isidro,  Nueva  Excija  Pro 
vince,  some  miles  east  of  the  railroad  and  accessible 
by  boat  on  the  San  Isidro  river,  I  think  it  is.  Here 
we  found  a  garrison  of  infantry  and  the  remains  of 
quite  an  important  station  and  depot,  with  ice  plant, 
which  station  had  been  General  Funston's  headquar 
ters  in  the  strenuous  times  of  the  insurrection.  The 
infantry  battalion  was  soon  withdrawn,  leaving  me 
in  command  of  the  station  with  garrison  of  two 
troops  of  cavalry.  Cholera  soon  appeared  in  the 
province  and  rapidly  spread  in  spite  of  quarantine, 
and  all  sanitary  regulations  prescribed  for  troops 
and  natives.  This  long  drawn  out  menace  to  our 
health  and  safety,  with  risk  of  infection  through 
everything  one  ate  or  drank,  together  with  the  ma 
larial  climate  in  the  tropics  with  its  enervating  influ 
ence  began  to  tell  on  us  all,  and  more  on  me,  who  car- 


130  I  Experience  a   Sunstroke 

ried  the  burden  of  command  and  responsibility.  Sev 
eral  members  of  the  garrison  died  from  Cholera, 
through  violating  sanitary  regulations;  not  a  single 
case  occurred  where  we  did  not  find  some  gross  vio 
lation,  such  as  eating  native  foods  outside  of  bar 
racks  or  drinking  unboiled  water,  etc. 

In  May  of  1903,  I  went  under  orders  as  inspector 
of  some  damaged  stores  and  equipment,  to  Cabana- 
tuan,  a  sub-station  some  twenty  miles  northeast  of 
San  Isidro,  on  a  hot  sunny  day,  May  being  the  hot 
test  month  there.  After  a  long  hot  morning  drive 
and  the  checking  and  destruction  of  the  condemned 
articles  in  the  blistering  sun  of  noonday,  I  ate  a 
hearty  lunch,  aided  by  lemonade  with  a  strong  dash 
of  whiskey,  which  I  rarely  touched.  I  started  in  the 
heat  of  the  afternoon  to  return  to  my  station  before 
dark.  My  run  down  condition,  the  extreme  moist 
heat  and  sultry  air,  the  heavy  lunch  and  the  unusual 
stimulant,  the  strength  of  which  I  did  not  realize 
all  combined  to  bring  on  a  heat  prostration,  when 
about  half  way  home.  I  felt  it  coming,  feared  a 
sunstroke  and  had  myself  laid  on  my  back  by  the 
roadside,  in  the  shade,  but  did  not  seemingly  lose 
consciousness,  and  when  the  dizziness  passed,  I  went 
on  the  rest  of  the  way  home  with  a  blinding  head 
ache,  severe  nervous  tremor  and  great  weakness. 
Next  morning  I  found  it  impossible  to  write  my  name 
which  continued  several  days,  and  writing  has  been 
very  difficult  ever  since.  I  managed  to  get  through 
the  summer  in  command  of  the  station  but  felt  very 
much  shaken,  and  in  late  August,  1903,  took  my  com 
mand  on  a  march  of  several  days,  to  join  the  rest  of 
the  regiment  at  Camp  Stotsenburg  and  at  Manila  in 
September,  we  took  Transport  Sheridan  to  return  to 
the  United  States.  For  nearly  two  years  I  had  been 
corresponding  with  Miss  Janie  Seay,  of  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  whom  I  had  known  as  a  young  girl  when  I 


Business  Ventures  at  Manila  131 


was  on  recruiting  duty  there  in  1894-5,  and  we  had 
become  quite  interested  in  each  other  again,  with  a 
plan  made  to  meet,  if  possible,  soon  after  my  return 
to  the  States,  to  see  if  we  were  congenial  enough  to 
get  married. 

Our  stay  in  the  Philipines  extended  from  March, 
1901,  to  September,  1903,  two  and  a  half  years 
during  which  time  peace  became  almost  general, 
schools  were  widely  established;  and  yet,  owing  to 
the  cholera  and  the  complete  change  in  business 
methods  and  markets,  caused  by  the  American  tariff 
and  changed  government,  prosperity  did  not  follow. 
The  prevalence  of  cholera  was  perhaps  the  largest 
factor  in  depressing  commerce.  Political  uncertainty 
also  had  its  effects.  I  could  not  but  regret  my  en 
thusiasm  over  the  future  of  the  islands,  when  I  saw 
my  investments  going  to  the  bad  and  heard  only  ca 
lamity  talked  of  in  trade  circles.  While  I  was  glad 
to  get  away  it  hurt  me  to  leave  so  much  at  stake  in 
Manila,  with  no  prospect  of  being  able  to  look  after 
my  interests  in  person.  The  amount  invested  \tfas 
over  $10,000  and  proved  almost  a  total  loss.  The 
bank  failed,  the  Maritima  Company  suffered  great 
loss  of  business,  ceased  paying  dividends  and  had  a 
hard  struggle  to  keep  alive,  while  the  tobacco  com 
pany  stock  alone  held  its  value. 

My  impression  is  that  the  P.  I.  will  never  be  suit 
able  for  colonizing  by  Americans.  Labor  is  too  cheap 
for  American  artisans  to  make  a  white  man's  living 
there,  and  the  climate  is  too  enervating  for  them  to 
pursue  agriculture  successfully.  Even  shop-keeping 
does  not  promise  much,  for  the  native  is  satisfied  and 
can  live  and  bring  up  a  family  on  a  profit  so  small 
that  a  white  man  would  starve  on  it.  Capital  judi- 
diciously  invested  in  conservative  enterprises  would 
have  a  fair  chance,  but  even  money  can  not  insure 
itself  where  the  laws  are  enacted  so  far  away  from 


132  U.  S.  Best  for  Americans 

home.  I  would  not  recommend  to  any  young  man  to 
go  to  the  Philipines  in  search  of  fortune,  for  my  per 
sonal  observation  and  experience  shows  me  there  are 
ten  opportunities  in  the  United  States  for  him,  for 
every  one  chance  there. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Marriage — Arizona,  1904 — Sick  Leave,  1905 

Returning  by  transport  Sheridan  to  Frisco  was 
a  joyous  voyage.  Freed  from  responsibilities  and  the 
depressing  climate  with  happy  anticipations,  with 
a  sea  appetite,  abundant  food  and  rest,  I  recuperated 
very  rapidly  and  gained  fifteen  pounds  on  the  trip. 
We  went  via  Nagasaki,  Japan  to  get  coal,  which 
gave  us  another  pleasant  glimpse  of  the  seemingly 
happy  land  I  had  visited  in  1891.  The  rest  of  the  voy 
age  was  without  special  incident,  and  we  reached 
Frisco  early  in  October,  1903.  Here  we  stayed  in 
camp  nearly  two  weeks  and  I  secured  a  three  months 
leave  of  absence,  on  which  I  started  about  the  middle 
of  the  month,  after  seeing  the  regiment  off  on  trains 
for  points  in  Arizona.  In  company  with  Major 
Gresham  I  went  north  to  Portland,  Tacoma  and  Spo 
kane,  where  I  struck  south  to  see  my  wheat  farms 
in  the  Palouse  country  in  eastern  Washington. 

At  Oaksdale  I  found  my  agent,  whom  I  had  never 
seen,  and  was  agreeably  surprised  at  the  excellent 
condition  of  my  properties.  He  had  been  in  charge 
some  ten  years  and  had  carried  out  my  plans  so  well 
that  the  mortgages  had  all  been  paid  off  and  good 
annual  profits  turned  in.  I  thought  it  a  good  time 
to  sell,  fixed  rather  high  prices  with  plenty  of  time 
in  which  to  pay  however,  and  soon  had  contracts 
signed.  From  Spokane  I  went  via  Denver  to  St. 
Louis,  where  I  stopped  over  for  a  short  visit  with 
old  friends,  then  on  to  Nashville,  Tenn.  I  had  so  far 
recovered  from  the  heat  prostration  that  I  felt  quite 


134  Married  at  Nashville 

myself  again,  but  still  carried  a  reminder  of  it,  in 
my  disabled  right  hand,  with  which  I  could  only 
write  with  difficulty. 

Warmly  welcomed  by  all  friends,  including  Miss 
Janie  Seay,  whom  I  found  much  matured  in  the  ten 
years  since  I  saw  her  last ;  I  enjoyed  five  or  six  weeks 
of  social  life  in  my  old  home  town  while  my  affection 
for  Miss  Seay  ripened  into  love  in  our  almost  daily 
association.  It  was  all  very  delightful  and  surprising 
to  me,  then  in  my  forty-third  year,  to  find  such 
warmth  in  my  heart,  and  when  she  consented  to  a 
hasty  marriage  so  as  to  be  able  to  go  with  me  to  my 
old  station,  Fort  Huachuca,  Arizona,  I  felt  that  life 
was  still  worth  living  and  viewed  the  future  with 
much  content  and  happy  anticipations.  We  had  a 
rather  elaborate  church  wedding,  semi-military,  as 
my  best  man  and  myself  were  in  full  military  "dress 
uniform"  and  the  church  was  decorated  with  swords 
and  flags.  We  were  married  January  llth,  1904, 
and  had  six  days  for  our  wedding  journey  at  the  end 
of  which  my  leave  would  expire,  and  I  would  have  to 
report  for  duty  again.  Two  days  in  New  Orleans  and 
one  at  Tucson,  Ariz.,  with  three  days  travel,  brought 
us  duly  to  my  station  on  time. 

The  post  Quartermaster  was  fitting  up  a  set  of 
"quarters"  for  me,  but  they  were  not  quite  ready 
and  we  became  the  temporary  guests  of  Lieutenant 
Winnia,  who  gave  us  the  use  of  a  room  in  his  bach 
elor  quarters  till  we  could  fix  up  our  own,  and  we 
took  our  meals  at  the  "Officers  Mess."  Such  a  mess  is 
run  at  nearly  every  post  for  the  convenience  mostly 
of  bachelor  officers,  and  married  officers  temporarily 
while  arranging  their  household,  unpacking  and  get 
ting  settled.  It  is  really  less  expense,  but  inconve 
nient  to  thus  go  out  to  meals  with  a  family  for  any 
length  of  time,  so  we  were  very  glad  when  we  were 
settled  in  our  own  quarters,  with  our  cheerful  Japa- 


Second  Tour  of  Duty  in  Arizona  135 

nese  house  boy,  Charley  Thoma,  whom  I  brought 
along  from  Tucson.  My  household  now  consisted  of 
my  wife  and  myself,  the  Jap  (cook  and  house  boy) 
and  a  soldier  "striker,"  who  looked  after  my  horses, 
did  odd  chores,  etc. 

In  all  my  army  experiences  I  had  never  been  so 
completely  and  cosily  equipped  to  enjoy  home  life  as 
on  this  second  tour  of  duty  in  Arizona.  A  reception 
was  given  us  shortly  after  our  arrival,  and  many 
little  dinner  parties,  which  made  wife  feel  very  much 
at  home  among  the  families  of  my  brother  officers 
of  the  regiment. 

The  winter  and  spring  were  so  mild  that  we  had 
many  pleasant  horseback  rides  in  the  mountains 
around  the  fort,  with  live  oak  and  pine  groves, 
all  about  us.  At  six  thousand  feet  elevation,  and 
about  fifteen  miles  from  the  Mexican  border,  with 
enough  rainfall  on  the  hills  to  supply  the  post  with 
aboundant  spring  water,  Fort  Huachuca  has  long 
been  popular  with  army  officers  for  its  healthy  and 
invigorating  climate,  while  the  lowlands  of  that  re 
gion  are  scorched  with  a  terrific  but  dry  heat. 

When  we  had  been  some  two  months  there,  wife 
went  on  a  visit  to  her  mother  in  Tennessee,  leaving 
me  to  keep  bachelor's  hall,  which  was  very  irksome 
but  short,  as  she  only  stayed  a  week  at  home,  find 
ing  her  own  household  more  attractive  than  her 
mother's,  at  least,  before  the  novelty  wore  off.  Her 
skill  on  the  piano  and  violin  made  her  popular  with 
the  musically-inclined,  while  the  delightful  pieces 
rendered  by  the  band  at  "guard  mounts,"  parades 
and  evening  concerts,  gave  us  both  many  happy 
hours. 

In  May,  I  think  it  was,  a  forest  fire  broke 
out  on  the  Huachuca  mountains,  some  miles  east  of 
our  station,  and  the  war  department  responded  to 
appeals  for  help,  by  sending  my  troop  of  cavalry  out 


136  Fighting  Forest  Fire.     Range  Officer 

to  the  scene  of  trouble,  with  orders  to  use  every  ef 
fort  to  suppress  the  fire  or  keep  it  in  such  limits  as 
to  prevent  its  extending  to  the  timber  around  and 
above  the  fort.  I  had  to  camp  in  a  canyon  below  the 
fire  where  by  day  the  sun  and  fire  combined,  made 
the  heat  very  trying  to  both  men  and  horses.  Being- 
more  susceptible  to  sun  heat  since  my  sun-stroke  in 
the  Philipines  the  summer  before,  the  fire  and  blaz 
ing  Arizona  sun  combined  to  make  me  suffer  severe 
ly,  and  very  nearly  caused  a  recurrence  of  that 
trouble.  Several  of  my  soldiers  were  more  or  Jess 
overcome  by  the  heat  and  fatigue  combined,  but  at 
last  after  several  weeks  of  strenuous  work  and  wor 
ry,  day  and  night,  the  fire  area  was  limited,  burned 
itself  out,  and  we  returned  to  garrison  life.  Mean 
while,  during  my  absence  from  the  post,  Mrs.  Bryan 
took  the  opportunity  to  make  another  flying  visit  to 
Nashville,  rather  than  stay  alone  in  my  quarters. 

Shortly  after  fighting  the  fire  I  was  detailed  as 
Range  Officer,  in  charge  of  the  annual  target  prac 
tice,  and  my  duties  kept  me  in  camp  on  the  range, 
several  miles  from  the  post.  Here  I  was  again  ex 
posed  all  day  long  to  the  fierce  Arizona  sun  and  suf 
fered  extremely  from  headaches  and  nervousness  for 
more  than  a  month  in  mid-summer.  At  the  end  of 
target  practice  I  again  enjoyed  only  a  short  stay  in 
garrison,  when  I  was  ordered  to  Fort  Grant,  Arizona, 
with  my  troop,  to  take  commane  of  that  station. 

The  detail  was  intended  to  cover  only  two  months 
and  we  simply  turned  the  key  on  the  quarters  at 
Fort  Huachuaca,  taking  along  the  simplest  form  of 
outfit  for  light  housekeeping,  such  as  bedding,  my 
field  mess  kit  and  the  Jap  cook.  By  using  soldier  cots 
and  such  crude  furniture  as  the  quartermaster  de 
partment  made  for  emergencies,  we  got  along  very 
well.  To  reach  Ft.  Grant  the  troops  had  to  make  four 
rather  long  marches  through  the  hot  low-lands  of 


Undue  Heat  Wrecks  Health  137 

the  intermediate  country,  a  scorched  and  roasting 
desert.  These  four  days  of  march  in  the  strong  ver 
tical  sun  of  August,  following  the  exposure  to  heat 
at  the  forest  fires  and  on  the  target  range,  very 
nearly  produced  a  second  heat  prostration,  or  re 
lapse.  At  the  end  of  the  third  day  of  cross-country 
marching,  I  reached  Wilcox,  Ariz.,  on  the  Southern 
Pacific  railroad  almost  in  a  state  of  collapse.  Here 
I  found  Mrs.  Bryan  and  the  Jap,  waiting  for  me, 
they  having  come  around  by  train  and  the  next  day 
I  went  with  them  in  a  government  conveyance  over 
the  remaining  twenty-eight  miles  to  the  fort,  leav 
ing  the  first  sergeant  to  bring  up  the  troop. 

This  old  station  had  held  large  garrisons,  had 
many  officers  quarters,  was  well  supplied  generally 
and  with  the  garrison  reduced  to  one  troop  of  cav 
alry,  it  was  almost  like  a  deserted  village,  but  was 
pleasant,  cool  and  healthy  and  for  various  reasons  I 
was  allowed  to  stay  there  in  command  longer  than 
originally  intended. 

My  health  was  so  shaken  and  I  suffered  so  from 
exposure  to  the  sun,  that  the  post  surgeon,  Dr.  Ken 
nedy,  recommended  a  long  "sick  leave"  to  be  spent 
in  a  cooler  part  of  the  country.  The  leave  was  gran 
ted  for  six  months.  Meanwhile  I  had  to  go  to  Fort 
Huachuca  (by  train)  to  pack  up  my  household  goods 
and  vacate  the  quarters  there,  which  were  much 
needed  by  other  officers.  In  spite  of  my  ill  health 
my  stay  at  Fort  Grant  was  very  pleasant,  for  we  had 
all  the  privileges  and  independence  of  "commanding 
officer,"  and  were  expecting  our  first  child,  who  was 
born  December  15,  1904,  in  the  big  house  long  occu 
pied  by  commanding  officers,  and  somewhat  luxuri 
ous  for  so  remote  a  part  of  the  country.  As 
soon  as  wife  was  able  to  travel  we  left  for  Hot 
Springs,  Ark.  U.  S.  Army  Hospital,  where  wife  left 
me  to  go  on  to  her  mother's  home,  in  Nashville, 


138 


On  Sick  Leave 


Tenn.  Three  months  in  the  hospital  failed  to  give 
me  relief  and  the  hot  weather  coming  on,  caused  me 
to  go,  on  the  approval  of  the  hospital  surgeon,  to  the 
Cumberland  Plateau  in  East  Tennessee  with  wife 
and  baby,  and  we  found  excellent  accommodations 
at  Monteagle,  a  sort  of  chautauqua  in  Tennessee.  We 


My  quarters  at  Fort  Grant,  Arizona  as  C.  O.,  1904,  where  Roger  was  born  5:30  A.  M., 
Dec.  15,  1904. 

spent  four  months  at  Monteagle,  during  all  of  which 
time  I  suffered  sun  headaches  every  time  I  walked 
out  in  the  sunlight,  so  that  life  was  a  constant  daily 
torture.  My  original  sick  leave  having  expired  I  se 
cured  an  extension  on  doctor's  certificate  for  six 
months  more.  My  colonel,  anxious  to  keep  the  reg 
iment  up  to  its  highest  state  of  efficiency,  in  approv- 


Retired.     "Disability  in  Line  of  Duty"  139 

ing  the  extension,  asked  for  information  as  to  how 
long  my  disability  might  continue;  to  determine 
which,  the  War  Department  directed  me  to  proceed 
to  Fort  McPherson,  near  Atlanta,  Ga.,  for  observa 
tion.  I  had  taken  a  flying  trip  from  Monteagle  to 
the  Johns  Hopkins  hospital  at  Baltimore  to  consult 
their  specialist  on  sunstroke;  and  he  frankly  admit 
ted  that  the  medical  profession  was  at  sea  as  to  prog 
nosis  and  treatment,  but  informed  me  that  I  would 
be  disturbed  for  a  long  time  before  being  free  from 
the  influence  of  the  sun. 

I  reported  at  Fort  McPherson  early  in  Septem 
ber,  1905,  and  after  several  week's  observation  of 
my  case  by  the  surgeon  with  no  relief  from  discom 
fort  nor  improvement  in  symptoms,  I  gave  up  hope 
of  a  speedy  cure ;  and,  to  enable  me  to  try  everything 
possible  without  worry  I  asked  to  be  examined  with 
a  view  to  retirement.  The  retiring  board  decided 
that  the  promise  of  speedy  return  to  duty  was  slight, 
and  on  the  second  day  of  November,  1905,  I  was 
retired  "for  disability  incurred  in  the  line  of 
duty."  Having  secured  permission  to  again  go  to 
Hot  Springs  Hospital  for  further  treatment,  I  went 
there  immediately  after  retirement  in  November 
and  continued  treatment  till  near  the  end  of  April, 
1906,  when  I  was  so  far  relieved  of  sun-headaches, 
that  I  was  able  to  travel.  With  a  view  to  getting  a 
cool  summer  climate  I  planned  to  try  making  a  home 
in  Berkeley,  Cal.,  but  just  before  leaving  Hot  Springs 
the  disaster  of  earthquake  and  fire  occurred  in  that 
region,  making  such  a  plan  impracticable  at  the  time. 
Wife  and  boy  joined  me  from  Nashville  and  know 
ing  of  the  mild  summers  at  San  Diego,  we  decided  to 
try  living  there  temporarily,  and  coming  out  on  the 
Santa  Fe  railroad,  reached  there  April  29,  1906. 


R.  B.  BRYAN'S  HOME  IN  SAN  DIEGO,  CALIF. 
306  West  Grape  St. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

San  Diego,  Cal. 

We  did  not  know  how  good  a  place  for  all  kinds 
of  disorders  San  Diego  is,  until  we  had  tried  it.  My 
household  goods  being  stored  at  Fort  Huachuca,  I 
took  a  furnished  cottage  near  the  corner  of  Cedar 
and  8th  streets  on  a  high  point  near  the  Grant 
home,  and  began  to  keep  house  with  the  help  of  an 
old  negro  man,  who  had  long  been  a  servant  in  my 
wife's  family,  and  who  agreed  to  stay  with  me  a 
year,  coming  with  wife  from  Nashville,  Tenn.  He 
turned  out  to  be  a  jewel,  for  though  unable  to  read 
and  write  he  was  well  trained  in  cooking  and  house 
work,  gardening  and  handy  with  tools.  Still  better 
for  my  needs,  he  was  quiet  and  deferential,  even 
tempered  and  kind-hearted,  one  of  the  best  helpers 
I  ever  had. 

Being  pleased  with  the  town,  then  scarcely  more 
than  a  village  in  permanent  population,  I  found  a 
comfortable  livable  house  where  I  still  live,  at  306 
W.  Grape  street,  seven  blocks  from  and  with  a  fine 
view  of  the  bay,  and  had  my  furniture  shipped  from 
Arizona. 

In  August,  1906  we  took  possession  and  moved  in 
to  what  was  to  be  our  permanent  home.  We  liked 
the  house,  grounds  and  location  so  well  that  when  it 
became  necessary  to  vacate  or  purchase,  I  decided  to 
buy.  The  owner,  Rev.  B.  F.  McDaniel,  of  Dorchester, 
Mass.,  had  built  it  some  twenty  years  before,  while 
preaching  for  the  Unitarian  congregation,  but  being 
called  back  east  was  compelled  to  rent  it  for  a  nomi- 


142  Life  as  a  Retired  Army  Officer 

nal  return  or  sell.  Loving  San  Diego  as  he  and  his 
family  did,  he  hoped  to  return  there  some  day  to 
live,  but  finally  realized  its  impracticability,  and  put 
the  house  on  the  market.  A  northwest  corner,  lOOx 
100,  just  a  mile  from  the  business  center,  with  a 
well  built  10-room  house,  ornamented  with  handsome 
trees,  shrubs  and  flowers,  the  place  was  even  then 
a  bargain  at  $6,000,  and  he  gave  me  my  own  time  to 
pay  it  in  at  5  per  cent  interest.  I  completed  payment 
in  1909.  In  accordance  with  a  good  old  army  post 
custom,  the  colony  of  retired  army  officers  in  town 
called  on  us  when  we  got  settled  and  introduced  us 
to  the  social  life  of  the  city.  We  joined  whist  and 
musical  clubs,  and  did  our  turns  in  entertaining  du 
ring  the  following  winter,  though  I  was  in  poor 
health  all  the  time.  I  also  got  together  five  or  six 
friends  into  a  boating  and  fishing  organization 
which  we  called  the  "Shark  Club,"  and  bought  a  sail 
boat  which  we  named  the  "Shark."  I  was  the  only 
sailor  in  the  club,  and  after  some  months'  use  as  a 
sail  boat,  we  added  power,  in  the  form  of  a  gaso 
line  marine  engine,  which  we  all  learned  to  run  and 
explored  every  nook  and  cranny  in  and  around  San 
Diego  bay,  as  well  as  taking  now  and  then  trips  out 
side  to  the  kelp  beds  for  deep  sea  fishing.  The  Shark 
was  a  great  comfort,  and  benefit  to  my  health,  keep 
ing  me  in  the  open  air  with  jolly  comrades,  and  giv 
ing  me  occupation  for  my  otherwise  idle  hours.  I 
was  too  weak  and  nervous  to  take  up  any  active  busi 
ness  and  I  should  have  grown  worse  but  for  the  re 
creation  afforded  by  the  Shark  Club.  My  family  and 
I  frequently  spent  entire  days  picnicing  and  fishing 
on  the  water.  I  also  joined  the  San  Diego  Yacht 
Club. 

I  found  night  parties  aggravated  my  nervous 
trouble  and  in  the  spring  had  almost  ceased  attend 
ing  any  night  function,  which  aroused  vigorous  pro- 


Wife  Dies  from  Surgical  Operation  143 

test  from  my  wife,  who  in  splendid  health,  was  hav 
ing  the  time  of  her  life,  being  gifted  musically  and 
having  a  warm  social  nature. 

On  coming  to  the  Pacific  coast  we  had  promised 
my  wife's  mother  a  visit  at  the  end  of  a  year,  and  it 
was  only  this  promise  which  took  wife  and  our  boy 
to  Nashville  for  a  month's  stay  in  April,  1907,  leav 
ing  me  in  care  of  our  old  darkey  cook,  Nathan  Rog 
ers,  as  I  feared  the  fatigue  and  heat  of  the  journey, 
and  of  the  Tennessee  climate,  so  familiar  from  my 
boyhood. 

Wife  regretted  to  go  and  leave  her  social  pleas 
ures  and  her  own  home  which,  from  attractiveness 
as  well  as  ownership  and  the  scene  of  many  pleas 
ures,  had  become  very  dear  to  her.  Tears  at  part 
ing  filled  her  eyes  and  she  promised  herself  and  me 
a  speedy  return.  Alas !  she  did  not  know  that  it  was 
her  last  view  of  husband  and  home.  A  slight  sur 
gical  operation  was  undertaken  while  she  was  on 
this  visit  to  her  mother,  and  though  considered  safe, 
and  performed  by  one  of  the  most  skillful  surgeons 
in  Tennessee,  by  one  of  those  unforseen  decrees  of 
fate,  it  turned  out  disastrously  and  she  died  of  peri- 
tionitis — the  fifth  day  after  the  operation — May  31, 
1907.  On  advice  of  the  United  States  Army  surgeon 
who  attended  her  at  Fort  Grant,  Arizona,  on  the 
birth  of  our  son,  I  had  steadily  opposed  the  opera 
tion  as  unnecessary  and  dangerous.  Her  death  came 
to  me  like  a  thunderclap  from  a  clear  sky,  for 
she  had  promised  me  not  to  undertake  the  operation 
while  away  from  me.  The  surgeon's  telegram  an 
nouncing  "peritonitis  right  side;  condition  critical," 
arrived  the  same  morning  as  her  letter  telling  me 
she  was  to  enter  the  hospital  and  the  same  night 
came  a  telegram  from  her  uncle  announcing  her 
death.  In  my  over- wrought  condition,  her  death  was 
a  great  shock  to  me,  and  I  was  forbidden  by  my  phy- 


144  Lawsuit  Gives  Me  My  Own  Son 

sician  to  take  the  risk  of  a  journey  in  the  heat  of 
June  in  Tennessee,  to  attend  her  funeral ;  and  I  wired 
her  people  to  that  effect,  and  asked  her  uncle,  Mr. 
Sam  Seay,  to  represent  me  in  the  arrangements  for 
her  burial.  Now  came  the  saddest  feature  of  the 
tragedy.  After  her  interment  in  the  Seay  family 
lot  in  Mount  Olivet  cemetery,  I  made  arrangements 
with  mutual  friends  to  bring  my  boy  out  to  me,  but 
his  mother's  people  refused  to  let  him  come  under 
any  circumstances  and  to  my  importunities  they  re 
turned  silence.  No  word  came  from  them  all  sum 
mer,  until  I  sent  a  legal  friend  of  mine  to  interview 
them  finally  before  taking  other  steps  to  re 
cover  the  custody  of  my  own  son.  He  told 
me  that  nothing  but  a  court  decree  would 
give  the  child  back  to  me,  and  advised  me  to 
come  on  there  as  soon  as  cooler  weather  would  per 
mit,  and  the  opening  of  the  courts  would  give  us 
action.  I  left  my  home  in  charge  of  a  caretaker — 
Nathan's  year  having  expired  and  he  having  gone  to 
Tennessee  on  a  visit — and  reached  Nashville  early 
in  the  fall,  where  I  brought  suit  through  a  writ  of 
"habeas  corpus"  in  the  District  Court.  After  a  long- 
drawn  out  and  acrimnious  trial,  the  court  awarded 
me  unconditional  possession  of  my  son.  Wife's  uncle 
who  stood  the  expense  of  the  trial,  and  employed  the 
ablest  lawyers  in  the  middle  west,  took  the  verdict 
so  much  to  heart  that  he  was  found  dead  in  bed  the 
next  morning  and  the  right  of  appeal  was  allowed  to 
lapse,  thus  giving  me  possession,  but  bitter  animosi 
ty  with  it,  from  the  Seay  family  survivors. 

Two  deaths,  a  disrupted  family  and  almost  a 
feud  resulted  from  undergoing  an  unnecessary  op 
eration. 

Stock  Market  Ventures. 

While  in  Nashville  the  panic  of  Nov.  1907,  was 
at  its  worst  and  as  I  had  been  watching  the  down- 


Stock    Speculations  145 


ward  trend  of  prices  on  the  stock  market,  I  felt  con 
vinced,  and  all  financial  papers  agreed  that  the  time 
to  buy  stocks  had  arrived.  I  watched  the  quotations 
till  they  stood  almost  unchanged  for  several  days 
at  bottom  prices,  then  purchased  as  much  as  I  could 
of  standard  securities.  By  the  middle  of  January, 
1908,  the  market  had  rallied  so  that  my  investments 
showed  $25  to  $30  profit  per  share  and  I  sold  every 
thing  out. 

Having  returned  to  San  Diego  with  my  boy  in 
December  1907,  I  secured  a  housekeeper  with  a  boy 
of  about  my  son's  age,  and  once  more  took  up  the 
burden  of  a  household  and  the  recreations  of  boat 
ing,  fishing  and  club  life.  I  had  been  a  member  of 
the  leading  social  club — "The  Cuyamaca" — almost 
from  my  arrival  in  the  city  and  formed  many  pleas 
ant  acquaintances  there,  and  in  the  two  Masonic 
lodges,  where  I  visited  with  a  view  to  transferring 
my  membership  from  the  Manila  lodge  to  one  of 
these,  should  I  decide  to  stay  permanently  in  San 
Diego. 

A  strong  reaction  in  the  stock  market  in  Feb 
ruary,  1908,  again  called  my  attention  to  the  bar 
gains  being  offered.  Some  payments  on  my  lands  in 
Washington  sold  in  1904,  together  with  the  funds 
from  previous  turn  on  the  market,  gave  me  about 
twice  the  amount  I  had  first  purchased  stocks  with 
and  I  bought  for  the  first  time  "on  a  margin"  of 
about  50  per  cent.  This  venture  turned  to  a  profit 
of  about  10  per  cent  in  the  next  sixty  days  and  I  sold 
out  again.  Such  unusual  bargains  with  such  quick 
turns  could  hardly  occur  save  in  panic  times,  and  I 
set  myself  to  the  task  of  studying  conditions  affect 
ing  values  of  securities,  with  a  view  to  acting  intel 
ligently  in  any  further  investments  I  should  make. 
So  far  I  had  only  picked  up  what  seemed  to  be  bar 
gains  without  much  idea  of  the  relation  of  values  to 


146  Ups  and  Downs  of  the  Stock  Market 

conditions  often  far-reaching  and  world-wide.  I  se 
cured  the  leading  books  on  finance,  investments  and 
speculation  and  subscribed  for  stock  market  "letters, 
of  advice"  of  one  of  the  brainest  and  most  thorough 
investigators  of  these  subjects.  I  began  to  get  in 
touch  with  far-reaching  causes  and  effects  and  to 
feel  some  confidence  in  my  operations.  During  1908 
and  1909  my  purchases  and  sales  on  the  stock  market 
almost  invariably  gave  me  a  profit,  and  on  the  first 
of  January,  1910,  the  money  that  I  had  put  in  orig 
inally  from  all  sources  had  doubled  itself  in  the  two 
years.  This  conyinced  me  that  there  was  something 
like  a  science  of  investment  which  fairly  well  under 
stood  would  prevent  serious  losses,  while  the  plung 
er  acting  on  imperfect  or  incomplete  information 
would  almost  certainly  end  with  loss.  Conditions  in 
1901  opened  with  uncertainty,  but  my  letters  of  ad 
vice  indicated  a  steady  or  rising  market  in  prospect 
and  I  put  my  holdings  on  30  per  cent  margin, 
with  the  expectation  of  smaller  profits,  but  still 
profits,  for  the  year.  Here  I  first  struck  against  pow 
erful  and  secret  manipulations,  so  well  concealed  that 
I  was  involved  in  a  long  slow  falling  market  that 
seemed  continually  on  the  point  of  rising  but  never 
rose  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  me  feel  justified 
in  closing  out.  So,  after  rather  heavy  shrinking  of 
values  began  to  worry  me,  the  eratic  movements  of 
the  stock  market,  so  unjustified  by  conditions,  put 
a  terrific  strain  on  my  nerves  and  finally  led  me,  in 
self  defense,  to  close  out  my  deals,  even  though  the 
losses  were  heavy,  rather  than  continue  the  sus 
pense  which  had  extended  over  several  months.  I 
learned  the  torture  of  having  my  brokers  call  for 
more  "margins"  and  was  lucky  they  did  not  have 
to  sell  me  out  to  protect  themselves.  So  ended  my 
stock  speculations,  covering  three  years,  with  much 
experience,  with  heavy  wear  and  tear  to  my  nerves, 
and  little  final  profit.. 


I  Create  Estate  for  Son  147 

When  I  found  myself  disabled  and  so  unable  to 
get  insurance  on  my  life,  I  protected  my  only  child 
by  making  a  deposit  of  securities  and  cash  with  the 
Mississippi  Valley  Trust  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in 
trust  for  him,  the  income  to  be  used  for  his  main 
tenance  and  the  principal  to  be  paid  to  him,  half  at 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  the  other  half  when  he 
reaches  thirty.  After  making  favorable  turns  on 
the  stock  market  in  1908-09,  I  paid  off  the  balance 
due  on  the  home  in  San  Diego,  and  his  mother  being 
dead,  I  created  another  "Trust  Fund"  No.  2,  with 
the  same  institution,  to  provide  an  income  which, 
with  that  of  the  first  fund,  should  carry  him  through 
college,  and  a  professional  training.  Somewhat  dis 
turbed  by  the  outcome  of  my  1910  stock  speculations 
I  decided  to  protect  my  boy's  estate — to  come  from 
me— by  transferring  the  bulk  of  my  real  and  person 
al  property  to  him,  with  only  a  life  interest  in  the 
realty  reserved  to  myself.  The  realty  consisted  of 
the  home  place,  100x100,  with  one  large  dwelling 
and  three  small  cottages,  at  the  N.  W.  corner  of 
Grape  and  Albatross  Streets,  in  San  Diego,  and  320 
acres  of  "desert  land"  in  Arizona,  (viz.  West  half 
section  24,  twenty-four,  range  six  east;  township 
six  south;  Gila  and  Salt  River  B.  and  M),  together 
with  a  five-acre  town  lot  in  Arizola,  Ariz.,  (viz.  lot  1, 
Block  thirty-seven,  Town  site  of  Arizola,  Ariz.,)  two 
and  one-half  miles  from  the  above  320  acre  tract; 
the  latter  five  acre  lot  being  intended  as  a  residence 
site  on  the  railroad  (S.  P.  R.  R.)  while  cultivating 
the  larger  farm. 

The  desert  land's  canal  system  having  failed  in 
part  to  supply  water  and  having  to  be  reorganized, 
I  provided  for  future  needs  of  the  land  in  the  way  of 
new  water  rights,  assessments,  taxes,  etc.,  by  creat 
ing  another  Trust  Fund  (Trust  No.  240)  with  the 
Bank  of  Commerce  and  Trust  Company  of  San  Di- 


148  Son's  Estate — Continued 

ego,  Cal.  It  provides,  however,  that  in  emergency, 
other  income  failing,  the  income  or  even  part  of  the 
principal,  can  be  used  to  protect  the  boy  from  harm 
during  his  minority.  Finally  as  an  immediate  avail 
able  capital,  I  deposited  in  the  Citizens  Savings  Bank 
of  San  Diego,  cash  to  his  credit  for  his  guardian 
to  draw  on  in  case  of  my  death  and  transferred  to 
his  name,  dividend-paying  shares  of  stock  in  the 
"Western  Investment  Co."  and  the  U.  S.  National 
Bank,  both  of  San  Diego,  Cal. 

By  my  Will,  I  appointed  the  Bank  of  Commerce 
and  Trust  Co.  of  San  Diego,  as  "guardian  of  the  es 
tate"  of  my  minor  son,  believing  that  the  corpora 
tion,  with  its  heavy  guarantee  deposit  and  contin 
uity  of  organization,  would  make  a  better  guardian 
of  his  estate  than  an  individual  could  be. 

J.  H.  Hammond,  of  San  Diego,  is  named  guardian 
of  his  person. 

All  my  books,  souvenirs,  writings,  and  household 
goods  I  transferred  by  bill  of  sale,  retaining  to  my 
self  a  life  interest  and  use  of  same. 

Thus  having  protected  my  boy  against  any  error 
of  judgment  on  my  part,  whether  in  speculation  or 
from  nervous  breakdown,  I  felt  more  at  ease  in  my 
mind  than  at  any  time  since  my  sun  stroke  took 
me  out  of  active  service  in  the  army  and  left  me  un- 
suited  to  earning  a  living  otherwise. 

San  Diego  seems  to  favor  my  condition,  physi 
cally  and  mentally,  as  much  as  or  more  than  any  oth 
er  part  of  the  country,  with  which  I  am  familiar.  Its 
climate  is  so  nearly  perfect  the  year  round  and  the 
changes  from  month  to  month  are  so  gradual  as  to 
make  it  the  most  equable  to  be  found  in  the  United 
States. 

One  never  suffers  the  shocks  from  sudden  and 
severe  changes,  so  general  elsewhere,  making  it  ideal 
for  children  and  old  people,  and  delightful  to  every- 


San   Diego   Climate    Unequaled  149 

body.  People  of  all  conditions  from  all  parts  of  the 
world  find  it  suits  their  various  needs  and  "once  a 
resident  always  a  resident,"  applies  to  all  who  have 
tried  San  Diego,  and  whose  business  interests  per 
mit  them  to  live  there.  Being  equally  sensitive  to 
and  suffering  from  extremes  of  heat  or  cold,  I  have 
felt  less  risk  of  harm  and  conviction  of  greater 
length  of  days  by  keeping  my  residence  there  than 
by  living  any  where  else.  The  nervous  nature  of 
my  broken  health  has  made  it  distressing  for  me  to 
live  anywhere,  for  each  day  has  been  a  burden  now 
for  years,  yet  I  have  continued  to  keep  alive  for  my 
boy's  sake  and  far  beyond  the  age  I  could  reasonably 
expect  to  reach,  after  such  a  shock  and  subsequent 
overstrains  as  produced  my  original  disability. 

At  this  writing,  July  1914, 1  have  made  my  home 
in  San  Diego  for  over  eight  years  and  my  main  com 
pensation  has  been  in  seeing  my  boy  steadily  grow 
ing  and  developing  from  a  year  old  baby  into  a  rug 
ged  and  hearty  child,  with  promise  of  a  normal,  hap 
py  manhood,  through  the  aid  of  the  fine  climate  and 
most  excellent  schools  which  he  can  count  on.  It  has 
also  been  a  pleasant  experience  to  see  the  town 
change  to  a  city,  and  to  note  the  transformation 
made  by  putting  more  than  $20,000,000  into  build 
ings  during  my  eight  years  residence.  I  feel  sure 
my  boy  will  do  well  to  choose  San  Diego  for  his 
home,  even  though  he  has  no  near  relatives  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  have  arranged  for  his  col 
lege  course  to  be  taken  in  the  State  of  California. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Books  That  Have  Helped  Me. 

Aside  from  regular  text  books,  almost  every  per 
son  who  has  won  an  education  can  see  the  particu 
lar  influence  on  his  character,  life  or  fortune  result 
ing  from  one  or  more  books  and  this  has  been  my  ex 
perience  to  a  marked  degree.  The  first  to  awaken 
new  ideas  in  my  mind,  was  "The  Constitution  of 
Man,"  by  George  Combe,  which  first  came  into  my 
hands  while  a  student  at  Whitestown  Seminary,  near 
Utica,  N.  Y.,  in  1877.  It  makes  so  plain  the  relation 
of  man  to  nature  and  nature's  laws  and  to  hfs  fellow- 
man  as  to  be  readily  understood  by  the  most  ordi 
nary  mind,  yet  so  far-reaching  in  its  application  of 
principles  expounded  as  to  excite  the  admiration  and 
win  acquiescence  with  his  conclusions,  from  the 
wise  and  learned  of  many  nations. 

In  brief,  he  shows  that  obedience  to  the  laws  af 
fecting  our  physical,  mental,  moral  and  social  na 
tures,  rewards  us  with  corresponding  well-being ; 
while  disobedience  to  any  one  of  these  laws  brings 
invariable  punishment,  whether  such  obedience  or 
disobedience  was  accidental  or  intentional  on  the 
part  of  the  individual.  He  further  shows  that  the 
same  rule  applies  to  nations  in  their  relations  and 
conduct  towards  each  other.  He  draws  the  conclu 
sion,  aside  from  any  religious  consideration,  that 
man  will  always  find  his  greatest  well-being  and 
happiness  only  when  acting  under  the  supremacy  of 
the  so-called  "moral  sentiments"  and  intellect.  He 
also  draws  the  conclusion  that  there  is  more  re- 


The  Constitution  of  Man — Continued  151 

ward  for  man  to  acquire  knowledge  and  apply  it  to 
his  needs  and  uses,  than  to  be  given  all  knowledge 
without  effort.  His  analysis  of  human  nature  is 
based  on  the  philosophy  of  mental  subdivision  of 
powers  as  expounded  by  the  advocates  of  phrenology, 
while  at  the  same  time  showing  its  independence  of 
having  to  accept  the  nomenclature  and  location  of 
the  so-called  ' 'Phrenological  faculties."  It  is  a  mas 
terly  book  to  this  day,  is  read  in  every  printed  lan 
guage,  and  helps  to  a*sound  mode  of  life  every 
where. 

This  book  first  gave  me  to  understand  that  every 
law  discovered  so  far  governing  man's  relation  to 
nature  and  to  his  fellow  creatures  in  the  world  is 
a  law  for  his  good,  and  no  law  has  been  found  whose 
purpose  is  to  harm  mankind.  It  showed  me  also  that 
by  duly  stimulating  deficient  powers  they  can  be 
strengthened  and  an  unbalanced  character  brought 
nearer  to  the  normal.  This  principle  so  carefully  il 
lustrated  in  the  book,  has  been  of  inestimable  value 
to  me,  helping  to  correct  excesses  and  develop  de 
ficiencies,  that  would  probably  have  proved  disas 
trous,  had  they  been  allowed  to  go  unchecked 
through  ignorance.  Several  painful  traits  have  been 
so  brought  under  control  as  to  make  them  useful 
servants  instead  of  bad  masters  of  my  soul.  I  earn 
estly  hope  my  son,  at  a  suitable  age,  which  I  think 
about  sixteen  to  eighteen,  may  be  induced  to  make  a 
thorough  study  of  it,  and  I  am  convinced  that  any 
person  of  fair  judgment  would  gain  by  reading  it. 
Personally,  I  have  read  it  a  great  many  times,  al 
ways  to  find  some  deeper  meaning  or  to  see  some 
new  application  of  the  clear  and  simple  laws  of  na 
ture  which  it  explains. 

The  second  book  that  had  a  great  importance 
for  me,  and  which  would  have  had  still  more  value 
at  a  younger  age,  when  I  was  a  student,  was  "The 


152  "Instantaneous  Art  of  Never  Forgetting" 

Instantaneous  Art  of  Never  Forgetting/'  by  Prof. 
Alphonse  Loisette.  (This  name  was  a  nom  de  plume, 
he  being  an  Englishman  of  good  family  wishing  to 
hide  his  identity  from  the  public,  whom  he  taught 
by  lecture  and  correspondence  for  years  with  great 
success).  It  was  really  what  would  be  now  called  a 
correspondence  course  in  memory  training.  It  then, 
1886-7  consisted  of  six  pamphlets,  the  exercises  of 
each  of  which  in  turn  had  to  ]j>e  mastered  before  the 
succeeding  one  could  be  obtained.  Fortunately  his 
method  made  this  easy  and  even  a  delightful  recrea 
tion,  so  that  he  well  named  it  "A  Royal  Road  to 
learning,"  as  it  was. 

The  meat  of  the  cocoanut  was  to  be  found  in  the 
three  laws  of  physiological  working  of  the  memory 
by  which  power  was  gained  to  hold  the  attention  to 
get  an  impression  and  when  needed  later  to  revive 
that  impression.  Memory  is  the  revival  of  a  past 
mental  impression :  there  is  no  revival  without  an  im 
pression;  there  is  no  "impression"  without  "atten 
tion"  and  attention  has  to  be  cultivated  to  amount  to 
anything.  His  method  rapidly  trains  the  attention, 
enables  one  to  get  a  vivid  first  impression,  and  fi 
nally,  to  revive  that  impression  at  will,  any  time  and 
anywnere,  so  that  what  has  been  once  acquired  by 
his  method  is  permanently  available  through  life. 

His  "Three  Laws  of  Memory"  cover  every  rela 
tion  by  which  information  is  acquired  and  recalled. 
He  called  the  "Inclusion,"  "Exclusion"  and  "Con 
currence,"  and  with  so  sweeping  a  claim  to  univer 
sality,  they  merit  being  given  in  full  as  given  in  his 
text,  viz : 

I.  "Inclusion"  indicates  that  you  realize  and  feel 
that  there  is  an  overlapping  of  meaning  between  two 
words,  or  that  there  is  a  noticed  or  recognized  idea 
or  sound  that  belongs  to  both  alike,  as  to  enumerate 
a  few  classes: 


Three  Laws  of  Memory  153 

(a)  Simple  Inclusion  (mostly  synonyms)  Riches, 
Wealth.  Frequently,  Often,  etc.  (b)  Whole  and 
Part.  Earth,  Poles,  Ship,  Rudder,  (c)  Genus  and 
Species.  Animal,  Man.  Plant,  Thyme.  Fish,  Salmon, 
(d)  Abstract  and  Concrete  (the  same  quality  or 
Property  appears  in  both)  Dough,  Soft.  Empty, 
Drum.  Lion,  Strong,  (e)  Similarity  of  Sound.  Em 
peror,  Empty.  Salvation,  Salamander,  etc. 

II.  "Exclusion"  means  that  you  observe  that  there 
is  an  antithesis  or  that  one  word  excludes  the  other, 
or  that  both  words  relate  to  one  and  the  same  thing, 
but  occupy  opposite  positions  in  regard  to  it,  as  Rich 
es,  Poverty.    Hot,  Cold.    etc. 

III.  "Concurrence"  is  the  felt  relation  between  two 
ideas  or  impressions  which  we  have  sensuously  ex 
perienced  or  thought  of  together  or  almost  simulta 
neously,  or  History    has  told  us  are    together,  al 
though    having    no    relation    necessarily: — Daniel, 
Lion.     Execution,    Marwood.     Pipe,    Tobacco.     Co 
lumbus,    America.     Cause,  Effect.    His    discovery 
showed  that  all  memories  are  prodigiously  strength 
ened  by  learning  and  reciting  forwards  and  back 
wards,  or  what  is  better  still,  by  making  and  repeat 
ing  from  memory  both  ways,  a  series  from  100  to 
500  words  arranged  in  conformity  to  the  three  laws 
given  above.    This  statement  I  proved  by  experience 
and  after  learning  his  series  I  compiled  other  series 
on  each  law  separately  and  repeated  them  forwards 
and  backwards  many  times. 

I  give  for  the  benefit  of  .students  a  series  having 
all  three  laws  illustrated  which  can  be  learned  at  one 
sitting,  by  thinking  out  the  relation  between  each 
word  and  the  following  one  and  marking  "1,"  "2"  or 
"3"  according  as  it  illustrates  Inclusion,  "1"  Exclu 
sion  "2'  or  Concurrence,  "3."  It  is  my  "Ice-Snow- 
Series,"  viz: 

Ice,  1 ;  Slippery,  3 ;  Smooth,  2 ;  Rough,  1 ;  Ruffian, 


154  A  Memory  Exercise 


3 ;  Prison,  Crime,  Crimea,  War,  Army,  Navy,  Ship, 
Sail  (Sale),  Auction,  Bidding,  Competition,  Petition, 
Signatures,  Cygnet  (a  swan) ,  Net,  Ensnare,  Capture, 
Cap,  Gun,  Hunter,  Hounds,  Bark,  Tree,  Woods,  Prai- 
rice,  Airy,  Wind,  Hurricane,  Rain,  (Reign),  Ruler, 
Governor,  Steam  Engine,  "Power  Press,"  Newspa 
per,  (paper)  Ream,  Quire,  Inquire,  Inquest,  Coroner, 
Jury,  Decide,  Cider,  Apples,  Orchard,  Charred,  Burn 
ed,  Stove,  Fire,  Hose,  Rose,  Bush,  Guerilla,  Rill, 
Stream,  Water  power,  Manufacture,  Man,  Manager, 
Conductor,  Cars,  Track,  Trotting,  Fair,  Foul,  Chan 
ticleer,  Chandileer,  Gas,  Coal,  Mine,  Shaft,  Arrow1, 
Quiver,  Indian,  Black-hawk,  Chicken,  Feathers, 
Down,  Up,  Upstart,  Begin,  Bee,  Honey,  Hives,  Wives, 
Mormon,  Bringham  Young,  (Young)  Old,  Cold,  Win 
ter,  Summer,  (Fort)  Sumter,  Stone,  Mason,  Maize, 
Corn,  Fodder,  Cattle,  Catalogue,  Log,  Lumber,  Saw- 
Mill,  Boards,  Boxes,  Carpenter,  Laborer,  Layman, 
Cardinal,  Cards,  Games,  Whist,  Rubbers,  Snow. 

By  thinking  out  the  relation  and  marking  it  ac 
cordingly  as  above,  each  pair  of  words  is  cemented 
together  in  memory  and  the  whole  series  learned  in 
one  careful  analysis. 

Repeating  the  series  backwards  and  forwards 
many  times  a  day  is  easy,  and  surely  will  greatly 
strengthen  the  natural  memory,  as  these  relations 
are  felt  more  keenly  each  repetition. 

To  learn  poetry  he  used  "Interrogative  Analy 
sis  ;"  which  consists  in  asking  a  question  on  each  idea 
or  word  in  succession,  and  answering  with  the  whole 
line  emphasizing  the  word  on  which  the  question 
turned,  viz:  Cats  love  milk.  What  animals  love 
milk?  Cats  love  milk.  What  do  cats  love?  "Cats 
love  milk." 

In  this  way  step  by  step  the  longest  and  most  in 
tricate  phrases,  verses,  etc.,  can  be  mastered  rapidly 
and  well. 


"The  Laws  of  Psychic  Phenomena" 


155 


To  remember  dates  and  numbers  he  first  trans 
lates  the  number  into  words  by  an  ancient  device  of 
giving  a  number  value  to  the  consonants,  and  sup 
plying  vowels  needed  to  make  a  word  or  phrase. 
Thus : 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

0 

t 

n 

m 

r 

1 

g 

k 

f&v 

b 

s 

or 

d 

(soft) 

j&ch 

ng 

n 

P 

c 

(soft) 

(soft) 

hard 

Z 

ch-k 

With  these  number  values  any  word  or  number 
can  be  turned  into  figures  or  words.  Thus  "Cali 
fornia"  is  75842  and  the  number  7424  would  be 
"Coroner."  And  so  for  any  word  or  number. 

These  examples  give  an  idea  of  his  theory  and 
practice  and  splendid  results  can  be  obtained  by  his 
method. 

At  intervals  of  a  few  years  I  have  reviewed  his 
work  and  found  my  memory  freshened  and  strength 
ened.  He  shows  how  to  use  it  readily  in  studying 
different  subjects,  and  I  applied  it  to  the  studies  of 
law  and  medicine  with  excellent  results,  as  well  as 
to  the  Spanish  language  after  going  to  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico. 

The  third  book  of  vital  help  was  "The  Laws  of 
Psychic  Phenomena,"  by  Thompson  J.  Hudson, 
which  first  gave  me  a  sensible  clue  to  the  mystic 
side  of  human  nature  and  made  more  clear  such  sub 
jects  as  telepathy,  ghosts,  premonitions,  clairvoy 
ance,  etc.,  for  which  I  had  found  no  reasonable  ex 
planation  before.  Its  ground  is  so  sensible  and  clear 
that  any  one  can  follow  his  line  of  reasoning  and  his 
later  books  help  to  make  clear  man's  relation  to  the 


156  "Creative  Science,"  by  O.  S.  Fowler 

Infinite,  and  the  possibility  of  immortality  for  the 
soul. 

When  I  was  about  eighteen,  while  visiting  my 
sister,  I  found  in  her  library  a  book  called  "Creative 
Science,"  by  0.  S.  Fowler,  which  I  have  read  many 
times,  with  great  benefit  and  a  high  appreciation  of 
its  far-reaching  power  for  good,  not  only  to  the  in 
dividual  man  or  woman,  but  also  to  the  family  and 
the  nation.  It  treats  of  manhood  and  womanhood 
and  their  mutual  relations ;  of  how  to  conduct  court 
ship  and  marriage  rightly;  to  avoid  the  many  evils 
from  breaking  sexual  laws,  and  tells  how  superior 
children  on  the  physical,  mental  and  moral  side  can 
be  had,  by  following  nature's  laws.  Almost  every 
human  relation  from  conception  to  old  age,  is  ex 
plained  so  as  to  be  understood  in  its  right  and  wrong 
action  as  related  to  the  unbending  law  of  nature.  It 
and  the  "Constitution  of  Man,"  combined,  are  almost 
a  complete  library  for  a  family.  Its  chapters  on 
heredity,  pre-natal  culture  and  sexual  abuses  are  in 
valuable,  wholesome  and  irresistibly  convincing  to 
every  reasonable  being. 

At  West  Point  I  learned  in  the  fierce  struggle  to 
hold  my  own  in  the  classes,  to  study  as  I  never  knew 
how  before. 

Following  this  scientific  and  legal  course,  shortly 
after  graduating,  by  the  study  of  the  Loisette  Mem 
ory  System,  which  made  study  easy  and  even  invit 
ing;  I  took  an  active  interest  in  studying  law  and 
medicine — medicine  so  that  I  might  know  what  to 
do  with  troops  in  campaign,  and  civil  law  so  that  I 
might  act  rightly  in  all  my  investments,  and  perhaps 
practice  law. 

The  Post  Hospital  Libraries  supplied  medical  text 
books,  and  The  Sprague  Correspondence  School  of 
Law  was  my  teacher  in  law.  These  studies  in  my 
leisure  hours,  together  with  readings  in  French  and 


Various  Studies  Since  Graduation  157 

Spanish,  covered  several  years  and  were  of  great 
benefit  in  training  me  to  take  wide  views  of  life,  giv 
ing  me  sound  ground  to  stand  on  and  sympathy  with 
every  new  discovery  in  law,  medicine,  science,  art 
and  literature.  It  came  as  a  surprising  and  rather 
pleasant  discovery  in  my  reading  along  religious 
lines,  that  there  were  several  great  religions,  whose 
followers  outnumber  those  of  Christianity,  and 
have  influenced  the  race  far  longer.  Surely  a  loving 
Father  having  so  many  children  with  different  ideas 
could  not  leave  all  in  utter  darkness,  and  must  have 
given  some  light  to  each  of  these  great  sects.  Of  all 
these  books  none  stand  out  very  prominently  in  my 
memory,  but  all  had  influence  in  liberalizing  my 
mind  and  cheering  my  heart  with  thoughts  of  God's 
wisdom  and  goodness.  Science  seemed  to  praise  the 
Creator  with  every  new  discovery  of  the  dominion 
given  to  man  over  nature.  At  one  time  I  aspired  to 
all  knowledge,  but  compromised  with  this  big  un 
dertaking,  by  trying  to  get  the  main  essentials  to 
right  living  in  my  relations  with  my  fellow  men  and 
with  nature,  so  as  to  enjoy  life  here,  in  spite  of  per 
sonal  limitations  and  possibly  better  fit  myself  for 
a  spirit  life,  if  such  there  be. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Religious  Ideas. 

As  a  boy  in  Nashville  my  earliest  memory  is  of 
going  to  Sunday  School  with  my  brothers,  attend 
ing  the  little  Episcopal  "Trinity  Church,"  where  I 
was  put  in  a  class  taught  by  Mr.  Samuel  Seay  (my 
wife's  uncle) .  I  grew  to  like  the  service,  but  of  course 
had  no  idea  of  creed  or  dogma.  I  love  the  service  to 
this  day,  but  have  little  in  common  with  their  creed. 
When  I  went  to  New  York  to  live  with  my  aunt,  Su 
san  Jennings,  I  attended  Presbyterian  Church  with 
her  family,  and  after  being  influenced  by  the  Moody 
and  Sankey  revival,  about  1876,  I  joined  a  Presbyte 
rian  chapel  near  her  home  in  W.  46th  street,  still 
Without  much  idea  of  the  creed  of  the  denomination, 
being  only  fifteen  or  sixteen.  When  I  went  to 
Whitestown  Seminary,  it  being  a  Presbyterian 
school,  I  began  to  study  the  creed  and  found  it  dif 
ficult  to  accept.  This  brought  me  to  a  state  of 
doubt  and  invesgitation,  with  wide  reading  and  ea 
ger  questioning  of  all  creeds.  The  "Trinity"  and 
the  "Atonement"  were  my  main  stumbling  blocks 
and  for  a  year  or  two  I  scarcely  knew  what  I  did  be 
lieve. 

On  reaching  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1878,  I  attend 
ed  various  churches,  with  the  Unitarian  doctrine 
coming  out  in  strongest  favor  with  my  reason,  and 
judgment.  Without  joining  the  Unitarians,  how 
ever,  I  have  been  in  sympathy  with  their  teaching 
more  or  less  ever  since. 

The  narratives  in  the  Bible  of  spirit  apparitions 


Psychic  Research  Strengthens  My  Faith  159 

always  taxed  my  faith  severely  and  I  long  doubted 
the  truth  of  such  occurrences.  It  was  not  till  in  my 
thirties,  after  reading  "The  Laws  of  Psychic  Phe 
nomena,"  by  T.  J.  Hudson,  that  I  began  to  be  con 
vinced  that  spirits  of  the  departed  -had  reappeared, 
and  that  communications  had  been  received  from  the 
other  side  of  the  veil.  It  was  an  intellectual  convic 
tion  only,  however,  until  by  good  fortune  as  I  con 
sider  it,  I  had  a  chance  to  read  the  elaborate  and 
scientifically  thorough  "Reports  of  the  Society  for 
Psychic  Research."  These  put  a  new  and  comforting 
confidence  or  faith  in  such  facts,  and  gave  me  a 
feeling  of  conviction  for  which  I  had  long  waited. 
Many  scientific  thinkers,  aside  from  members  of 
that  society  have  accepted  the  conclusion  that  com 
munications  have  been  received  from  departed  spir 
its  or  some  form  of  manifestation  made  of  their 
presence.  The  researches  and  reports  of  the  Ameri 
can  Society  for  Psychic  Research  furnished  material 
to  further  strengthen  such  a  belief. 

In  our  present  state  of  knowledge  of  Nature's 
laws  and  the  evidence  going  to  show  man's  evolution 
over  a  very  long  period,  I  feel  a  reasonable  convic 
tion  that  the  Creator  or  force  controlling  the  uni 
verse,  has  placed  man  on  the  earth  to  fulfill  a  splen 
did  destiny,  of  which  we  have  at  present  only  faint 
glimpses  and  that  his  condition,  even  here,  will  be 
vastly  happier  and  the  average  of  life  much  longer. 

On  the  spiritual  side,  there  seems  to  be  evidence 
enough  of  man's  continued  existence  as  a  Spirit  af 
ter  the  death  of  the  body,  to  give  us  a  trust  that  We 
shall  all  so  live,  but  under  what  conditions,  such  as 
rewards  or  punishments  in  such  a  life  hereafter  I 
cannot  feel  any  certainty  based  on  scientific  data. 

It  seems  that  the  Creator  means  that  humanity 
shall  progress  in  happiness  and  that  his  laws  are  just 
and  kind  and  that  optimism  is  the  right  outlook  for 


160  Hope  of  Immortality 

the  race.  Our  nature  is  fitted  to  respond  to  many 
forms  of  pleasant  stimulation.  Every  faculty  of  our 
mind,  and  emotion  of  our  heart  has  some  appropriate 
object,  the  pursuit  of  which  gives  gratification. 

Reasoning  from  analogy,  if  there  is  a  life  as  spirit 
which  to  me  seems  reasonably  certain,  I  think  we 
will  find  the  same  kind  and  just  laws  controlling  pur 
life  hereafter,  as  rule  here,  with  suitable  modifica 
tions.  Whether  such  life  as  spirit  is  eternal  or  not 
would  seem  to  be  beyond  our  present  state  of  knowl 
edge  to  answer,  though  perhaps  we  are  progressing 
to  where  we  shall  be  able  to  know  some  day. 

Being  naturally  conservative  and  somewhat  prone 
to  look  on  the  serious  side  of  things  and  thoughts,  it 
has  been  a  great  comfort  and  joy  to  feel  justified  by 
my  reason,  in  taking  this  new  and  cheerful  view  of 
man's  destiny  and  relations^  to  the  force  that  con 
trols  him,  in  both  worlds.  If  we  shall  find  the  life  as 
spirit  to  have  privileges  of  unfolding  and  further 
progress  in  development,  then,  indeed,  may  we  emu 
late  the  enthusiasm  and  optimism  of  the  most  ardent 
sectarians  and  endure  with  cheerful  calmness  and  pa 
tience,  the  trials  and  tribulations  incident  to  life  in 
this  world  in  view  of  the  compensations  awaiting  us 
hereafter. 

Our  duty  and  pleasure  would  then  seem  to  be,  to 
gladly  study  the  will  of  the  Creator,  as  expressed  in 
the  laws  of  nature  and  our  own  constitution  and  give 
willing  and  unfaltering  obedience  to  these  laws, 
while  holding  in  our  hearts  the  feeling  that  a  kind 
and  just  father  controls  us  and  plans  for  us  a  joy 
ous  future. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Writings. 

My  father  and  mother  were  both  teachers,  each 
had  a  good  education  and  both  wrote  attractive  and 
charming  letters. 

In  our  home  we  never  heard  bad  gram 
mar  or  slang  and  there  was  on  the  contrary  an 
atmosphere  of  refinement  and  culture  that  influ 
enced  all  of  us  children  for  good. 

My  two  brothers,  Lyman  C.  and  Charles  H.  Bry 
an,  were  both  older  than  I  and  went  into  business  be 
fore  showing  any  literary  inclinations,  while  on  my 
part,  studies  took  so  much  of  my  time  that  I  wrote 
nothing  more  than  school  compositions  till  after  my 
graduation  from  West  Point.  This  gave  me  not 
only  a  higher  ideal  and  a  more  perfect  literary  taste, 
but  also  more  time  in  which  to  apply  them  to  writ 
ings.  Limited  at  first  to  letters  home  and  to  friends, 
my  first  writings  for  the  press  were  letters  of  travel 
in  Washington  and  Oregon,  written  for  the  "Walla 
Walla  Union,"  1885.  Shortly  after  this  the  course 
at  the  Infantry  and  Cavalry  School  of  Application 
at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  called  for  essays  on  Mil 
itary  topics,  and  resulted  in  my  writing  on  several 
subjects  of  which  I  have  now  forgotten  the  titles. 

On  my  trip  around  the  world  I  wrote  descriptive 
letters  of  the  journey  to  friends,  which  are  now  in 
my  hands,  and  show  some  marks  of  taste  and  de 
scriptive  power,  though  written  in  haste  and  under 
the  confusion  of  travel,  I  kept  them  for  the  boy. 

While  engaged  in  Arizona  in  1891-92  in  irriga- 


162  How  and  Why  I  Wrote  This  Book 

tion  ventures,  I  wrote  a  series  of  articles  on  irriga 
tion  for  "The  Oasis,"  a  newspaper  then  published  at 
Arizola,  Ariz.,  but  of  short  existence  and  of  many 
trials. 

About  this  time  compulsory  studies  and  essays 
by  army  officers  were  the  rule  at  military  posts,  and 
I  again  wrote  on  military  topics,  more  or  less  fre 
quently,  but  have  lost  the  mss.  of  all. 

My  business  correspondence  grew  so  large  in  con 
nection  with  the  management  of  lands  in  Washing 
ton,  Idaho  and  Arizona  as  to  leave  me  no  time  for 
literary  pursuits  as  such. 

In  starting  this  autobiography  I  had  no  desire 
to  shine  in  print,  nor  did  I  expect  to  make  so  large 
a  Writing,  but  having  found  a  great  deal  of  pleasure 
in  reading  a  little  booklet  by  my  Aunt  Mary  (Bryan) 
Hibbard,  giving  an  account  of  life  in  the  boyhood 
home  of  my  father,  and  his  brothers  and  sisters,  I 
thought  my  boy  would  enjoy  a  brief  sketch  of  my 
life.  My  health  being  wretched  now  these  many 
years  from  nervous  breakdown,  following  the  heat 
prostration  in  the  Philippines  and  over  exposure  to 
heat  in  Arizona,  has  permitted  little  recreation  on 
literary  lines,  and  greatly  handicapped  even  this,  for 
I  have  had  to  do  a  little  of  it  from  time  to  time,  as 
my  strength  permitted.  This  will  be  understood  bet 
ter,  when  I  say  that  for  years  my  hands  and  body 
have  been  so  shaken  by  a  form  of  "Paralysis  Agi- 
tans,"  as  to  prevent  my  dressing  myself,  and  even  on 
many  occasions  making  me  incapable  of  feeding  my 
self,  while  my  spirits  were  desperately  depressed. 

As  I  looked  over  the  subject  in  my  mind,  to  de 
cide  what  to  write,  and  what,  if  any,  to  omit;  my 
memory  brought  back  many  incidents  that  I  would 
have  enjoyed  telling  to  my  son  had  he  been  older, 
or  if  I  could  have  anticipated  living  myself  a  few 
years  longer  with  strength  to  tell  him.  I  finally  de- 


Writing    Under    Difficulties  163 

tided  on  making  this  record  for  him,  as  complete  as 
my  memory  and  available  data  would  permit,  without 
striving  for  literary  perfection. 

My  military  life  with  its  duties  carrying  me  to 
so  many  remote  parts  of  the  United  States  and  the 
outside  world,  has  so  deprived  me  of  home  ties  and 
the  usual  associations  with  my  own  people  as  to 
make  me  a  comparative  stranger  to  them.  If  I  live 
to  finish  this  outline  of  my  life,  it  will  also  serve  to 
make  them  better  acquainted  with  my  career,  and 
give  them  a  better  idea  of  an  American  army  of 
ficer's  life,  during  the  past  thirty  years. 

It  has  been  a  continual  surprise  to  me  during  the 
progress  of  this  dictating  that  I  have  been  able  to 
keep  at  it,  and  that  my  memory  has  remained  so 
fairly  clear  amidst  the  gradual  breaking  down  of  my 
health,  and  the  practical  wreck  of  my  body.  Some 
days  I  have  hardly  been  able  to  work  at  it  for  more 
than  a  few  minutes,  while  at  other  times  I  have  kept 
my  faithful  secretary  busily  writing  from  my  dicta 
tion  for  several  hours. 

I  have  written  as  I  thought,  without  any  feeling 
of  inspiration  at  any  time,  but  driving  myself  to 
work  by  the  conviction  that  I  might  benefit  my  son, 
or  at  least  interest  him,  when  he  gets  old  enough  to 
appreciate  what  I  have  been  through. 

It  may  surprise  some  readers  to  find  how  little 
of  actual  war  itself  enters  into  this  narrative, 
yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  many  years  of  prep 
aration  occur,  with  armies  everywhere,  for  wars 
that  never  take  place.  Moreover,  the  organizations 
or  regiments  of  which  I  had  the  honor  to  be  a  part, 
either  as  lieutenant  or  captain,  have  to  their  credit 
many  an  heroic  deeds  of  war,  to  show  that  when 
given  the  opportunity  they  were  capable  and  willing 
to  do  any  duty  for  which  they  were  organized. 

The  moto  of  my  first  regiment,  The  Second  U.  S. 


164  American  Army  Always  Ready 

Cavalry,  was  "Tou jours  pret,"  being,  of  course,  the 
French  phrase  for  "Always  Ready,"  and  the  record 
of  that  regiment,  covering  many  years  of  national 
history,  shows  that  its  officers  and  men  worthily 
maintained  its  motto.  I  had  it  engraved  on  my  ca 
det  "class  ring." 

In  the  Spanish-American  war  of  all  the  thous 
ands  prepared  to  engage  in  the  conflict  of  arms,  only 
a  very  small  percentage  actually  "smelled  powder" 
or  heard  hostile  bullets,  yet  no  one  would  have  the 
temerity  to  maintain  that  they  were  less  valiant  or 
fit  than  those  who  did.  My  duties  as  a  regimental 
staff  officer  kept  me  at  headquarters  of  the  regi 
ments  but  did  not  materially  interfere  with  active 
field  service,  had  it  arisen  while  I  was  on  such  duty. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

American  Army  Life  as  a  Profession. 

When  I  first  entered  the  service  of  "Uncle  Sam" 
as  a  cadet  in  1879,  the  duties  and  fields  of  operation 
for  an  officer  of  the  American  Army  were  far  more 
restricted  than  at  present,  and  it  was  almost 
with  regret  that  I  gave  up  my  long-cherished  ambi 
tion  to  be  an  officer  of  the  Navy,  and  started  for 
West  Point  instead  of  Annapolis. 

It  was  the  day  of  small  frontier  garrisons,  re 
mote  from  towns"  and  not  large  enough  in  themselves 
to  overcome  the  feeling  of  lonesomeness  and  pro 
vinciality.  There  were  for  the  younger  officers  a 
few  details  to  colleges  or  on  recruiting  duty,  and  for 
the  older  ones  a  tour  at  Washington,  but  the  gener 
ality  had  to  live  the  hum-drum  life  of  the  small,  re 
mote  garrison  as  best  they  could. 

Some  were  driven  to  drink,  others  to  an  unsuita 
ble  or  incongenial  matrimony;  others  still  took  up 
the  fads  of  the  day  as  collectors,  etc.,  while  over  all 
hung  the  pall  of  monotony. 

In  1883  when  I  joined  the  regiment  as  Second 
Lieutenant  at  Fort  Custer,  Mont.,  the  last  run  of 
buffalo  on  the  plains  had  taken  place  the  year  before, 
and  the  Indian  fighting  having  practically  ceased, 
the  infantry  and  cavalry  branches  of  the  army  were 
reduced  to  the  merest  routine.  Field  service,  except 
for  practice,  had  for  a  time  no  existence.  Naturally, 
an  active  and  ambitious  young  officer  could  not  face 
with  cheerfulness  a  long  and  dull  future  on  the  mod 
est  pay  of  a  subaltern  in  the  service,  when  the  great 


166  The  New  Ways  in  the  Army 

and  growing  western  country  was  holding  out  tempt 
ing  prizes  to  able  men,  trained  as  thoroughly  as  the 
graduates  of  West  Point. 

With  the  coming  of  the  Spanish  war  following  the 
inauguration  of  studies  and  examinations  for  promo 
tion,  there  came  a  great  change  in  the  outlook.  Zeal 
was  to  be  renewed ;  action  to  take  the  place  of  inac 
tion;  expeditions  to  foreign  parts  to  be  substituted 
for  the  dull  isolation  of  the  old  garrison  life,  and 
some  applications  to  be  made  of  abilities  so  long  in 
acquiring. 

Promotion  by  new  laws  and  enlarged  forces  be 
gan  to  look  near  and  probable,  instead  of  far  off  and 
uncertain,  while  the  greater  authority  and  increased 
compensation,  made  life  seem  better  worth  living.  I 
served  eight  years  as  a  Second  Lieutenant,  and  eight 
more  before  getting  as  captain  to  the  command  of  a 
troop  of  my  own.  These  figures  have  been  so  far 
reduced  that  nowadays,  captains  are  not  as  gray- 
haired  as  in  the  old  days  and  get  enough  pay  to  keep 
a  family  in  comfort,  and  even  educate  at  least  one  of 
the  children. 

It  has  now  become  a  profession  worthy  of  striv 
ing  for,  to  be  an  American  Army  Officer,  but,  like  so 
many  other  excellent  things,  the  preparation  for  and 
pursuit  of  it  has  to  begin  early.  Cadetships  are  lim 
ited  in  number  and  are  often  only  w;on  by  competi 
tion  with  the  brightest  young  minds  of  the  Congres 
sional  districts,  appointments  being  confined  almost 
exclusively  to  members  of  Congress,  therefore  many 
a  promising  and  probably  excellent  officer  is  lost  to 
the  service  from  having  passed  the  age  for  cadet- 
ship.  Ambitious  parents  should  bear  this  in  mind. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


Conclusion. 

When  an  officer  is  disabled  so  far  as  to  be  placed 
on  the  retired  list,  his  name  disappears  from  the  ac 
tive  list,  and  he  is  given  a  place  among  the  number 
of  those  who  were  retired  for  the  same  reason.  I 
was  retired  for  "disability  in  the  line  of  duty,"  Nov. 
2nd,  1905.  My  name,  with  its  brief  military  record, 
now  appears  in  the  Official  Army  Register,  under 
the  heading  each  year : 

"Retired  from  active  service  [Limited  List]"  as 
follows : 

Retired  from  active  service   [Limited  List]. 


Service  in   the  Army 

W 

> 
M£ 

Name,     grade,     date     of     rank, 
highest      brevet      rank,      and 
cause  of  retirement. 

In     permanent 
_       establishment. 

o 

5" 

?! 

35" 

rt- 
(0 
Pi 

Captains  —  Continued. 
Bryan,   Roger  B  2   mar  '99 
Graduate   Infantry  and   Cav 
alry  School    1889 

cadet  M.  A  1  July,  79 
2   It.   2   cav  13  jun,   83 
1   It                    18   sept    90 

Tenn. 
21  dec 

Mass. 
M.  A. 

Disability    in     line     of    duty 
(sec    1251    rev    stats) 

capt.   5  cav....  2  mar.  99 
retired                    2  nov    05 

1860 

THE  END. 


